Heart of a Ninja
by pain17ification
Summary: His world engulfed in Darkness... His partner turned into his weapon... And his newest ally is someone who fights for the Light. What will Naruto do when he lost his world to the Darkness and joins the fight as a Key Bearer alongside one of the students of Master Eraqus? How will the worlds, the Heartless, and the Nobodies handle a Ninja Key Bearer? Key Bearer Naruto! Naruto/Aqua
1. Chapter 1: Meeting in the Darkness

Hello FanFiction! This is pain17ification posting a new Xover story called "Heart of a Ninja"!

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own Naruto or Kingdom Hearts

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

**"Kurama Talking/Techniques"**

(Translations and A.N. Numbers)

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 1: Meeting in the Darkness

The sound of waves hitting the shore was the first thing he heard as he woke up. His body was wracked with pain and it hurt to even twitch or breathe. What happened and where was he? Why was he hearing the sound of water when he was nowhere near it?

He slowly opened up his eyes, revealing bright blue irises to the world, and painfully sat up. The first thing he saw was the dark sand of the shore. It wasn't a natural tan or even a rare white, it was a dark gray. He turned his gaze and saw the sea, but the water was as black as night and the only source of light in the area was a silvery moon on the horizon. He kept moving his gaze and saw that he was next to a rock face and that thorn like structures stretched over the water, but they didn't go that far.

What was this place? Why didn't he feel anything from it? All he felt was emptiness and pain, though the latter was because of his still healing injuries. He made to rub his head, but he stopped when he felt something move within his grasp. He looked down to his right hand and gaped at what he was holding.

It was…a weapon? He didn't know, but it sure looked like one. The handle was a dark red, almost like blood, and had a guard that surrounded his hand. The guard was a bright orange and had a silver chain on the bottom of it that had a keychain at the end. The keychain was in the design of a red swirl with a black outline on it. From the top of the handle, a black blade stretched for about three feet and a black fox head protruded from the side at the top of the blade. The fox head's eyes had red sclera, a bright orange iris, and a black slit pupil.

A voice whispered in his head and echoed, "_KeyBlade…_"

His brow rose slightly in confusion. Key…Blade? What was a KeyBlade? And why did he apparently have one? He closed his eyes and tried to speak to his friend, but they widened in shock when he couldn't hear anything. The voice he had grown accustomed to hearing from within his mind was gone and where his friend once resided in his mind was empty.

What was going on here? First he wakes up on a dark shore, then he apparently has a weapon known as the KeyBlade, and now he can't hear or talk to his last known friend.

He then closed his eyes in thought and tried to remember what happened before he woke up here. The last thing he remembered…

[Flashback]

He was panting and nearly out of energy as he stood before the last two Uchiha; Obito and Sasuke. His clothes were torn, his headband destroyed, and his skin riddled in cuts and bruises. Of course, the two Uchiha weren't much better and Obito had his Sharingan cut into, making it useless; so that was a plus.

Kurama, the Kyuubi no Kitsune and his last surviving friend, had given him all of the energy he could take and it was barely enough to take down the Gedō Mazō (Demonic Outer Statue) and the chakra it had stored within it. Now, he barely had half of his reserves left and Kurama was focusing on regaining his own lost power.

"It's over for you, Naruto," Obito said calmly. "You may have stopped the Gedō Mazō, but I will still rid this world of its light!"

"This is the end for you, dobe," Sasuke stated as his **Susano'o** (Tempestuous God of Valor) surrounded him with its dark and corrupted power.

Uzumaki Naruto lowered his head as tears welled from his eyes. The war…the Fourth Great War had taken its toll on everyone and left him with no one but the fox sealed within him. His friends, his precious people, were all gone or close to gone. He couldn't save them, even if he desperately wished to. _'How did it come to this, Kurama?'_

**"I don't know, Naruto… Perhaps…Darkness is the real source of power in the world…"**

Naruto clenched his fists in anger as he rose to his feet. His head was still down, with the bangs of his golden blonde hair shadowing his blue eyes. _'No… Darkness can't be the real source of power. It may seem that way since this world is being plunged into it, but even in the deepest Darkness…Light shines on through!'_

With that though, power exploded from him; power he didn't have before. Where before his chakra was a bright blue, it was now nearly white and shone brightly throughout the battle field with its glow.

_'This power… Where is it coming from? It feels so warm…so bright,'_ Obito thought in confusion as he readied his war fan and Sasuke readied an arrow with his **Susano'o**.

_'Kurama…do you feel it?'_ Naruto asked his tenant suddenly.

**"Yea, I do… It feels like Darkness is engulfing this world and this power you've tapped into is holding it back; but it doesn't look like it will last forever…"**

_'Yea… I figured as much. But it looks like its pooling around the two of them,'_ he commented while referring to the Uchiha.

The Bijuu hummed in thought as it looked through Naruto's eyes and saw dark puddles form near the two Uchiha. From the Darkness, two glowing yellow orbs appeared in each and began to rise from the puddles. The Darkness took shape and form and stood behind the two Uchiha with its head tilted in wonder.

It had a round, spherical head with circular, glowing yellow eyes. It also had two long, twisted antennae sprouting out of the top of its head. Each of its hands had three clawed fingers, and its feet were large and lacked any discernible digits. With the exception of its eyes, the body was completely black and blended in with the shadows easily.

Before the Uchiha knew it, the creatures began to latch onto them and were unaffected by the retaliatory strikes that were launched. Even the **Susano'o** proved ineffective as the creature simply phased through it and latched on to Sasuke. The Darkness from the creatures engulfed them and surrounded the Uchiha in twin spheres of pure dark energy. Their cries of pain soon faded and when the spheres disappeared and presented them, Naruto was left shocked at what he saw.

Obito had become a large lion made of Darkness with glowing yellow eyes and sharp yellow fangs. As for Sasuke, he became a large winged creature that had a hawk's body, but the neck and head were that of a serpent. Like Obito, his body was pure lack, save for the eyes and fangs which were a bright yellow.

The two new creatures of Darkness turned to Naruto and bared their fangs at him, making the blonde tense and prepare to defend himself. However, it wasn't needed as dark puddles appeared beneath them and they sank into them, leaving without a trace.

As soon as they were gone, the land surrounding Naruto became engulfed in what could only be described by him as an enormous dark puddle with him standing in the only unaffected area. However, the area was slowly getting engulfed as well and he began to panic. _'Kurama, what do we do?!'_

The fox growled as it wracked its brain for any ideas. Soon, one came to it and it began to mold its energy in a way it never did before. The blonde felt the fox's power form in his right hand and looked to see a swirling mass of red and white energies. **"Quick, before I lose focus, slam your hand on the ground and unleash the energy! We're leaving this world!"**

_'What do you mean?! Why are we leaving when we could try and save others?!'_

**"Kid, trust me… They're already gone… You're all that's left. Now slam your hand and let's get out of here!"**

Naruto cursed as a tear left his eyes. He then slammed his energy-filled hand on the ground beneath him and unleashed the power within it. He was then surrounded by the energy and felt his body fade away. Before he fully disappeared, he whispered out, "I'm sorry…"

[End Flashback]

_'I remember now… My world was engulfed in Darkness and I had to leave… But then, what happened to Kurama?'_ he thought while he looked to the KeyBlade in his hand. _'Did he become this…weapon? If so, why a KeyBlade and what exactly can this thing do?'_

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a soft gasp and he turned to see a beautiful young woman standing about fifteen feet from him.

She had bright blue eyes like his and short, blue hair that reached her shoulders and framed her heart shaped face. She wore a black and blue, high-collared halter top with two pink, intersecting belts over her chest, and black shorts. She also had an odd silver badge similar to badges that looked to be a Heart above a Cross. On her arms were white bell-sleeves and tan, fingerless gloves. She also wore a small, segmented piece of armor on each of her upper arms and what appeared to be black stockings, or socks, on her legs which reached halfway up her thighs, leaving a small area of bare skin on her upper thighs. Her attire also bore two strips of blue cloth that draped over either side of her hips, along with a smaller, white strip of cloth tied around her waist and draped in the same manner. Finally, she had pointed, armored, silver boots with a sharp hook-like extension on the outer side of each.

He kept looking at her while she had her gaze on his weapon. _'A KeyBlade! But I thought that Ventus, Terra, and I were the only ones? He doesn't look like Sora or Riku either since Terra and I instilled some of our power into them… Who is he?'_

Naruto slowly and painfully rose to his feet, using his KeyBlade as a crutch to support him. "Hey, my name is Uzumaki Naruto," he greeted in hopes of having not stumbled upon an enemy in his weakened state. "May I ask yours?"

The woman was shaken out of her thoughts at his voice and she gave a small, friendly smile. "My name is Aqua, and I'm glad to have run into another Key Bearer in this place."

"Key Bearer? What do you mean?"

Her eyes widened in shock at his confusion. "You mean that you don't know what you're carrying?" she asked while pointing to his weapon.

He raised it up and looked to it in confusion. "You mean this thing? I heard a voice in my head call it a 'KeyBlade' but I still don't really know what the heck it is."

"A KeyBlade is a weapon used to fight off either the Darkness or the Light. Most are used to fight the Darkness, but there are still a few that go against the Light. Do you know what yours fights against?"

Once again, his face had a look of confusion before a voice whispered in his head again. It echoed, "_Rise up with the Light… Fight the Darkness…_"

"It fights against the Darkness… At least, that's what that voice told me just now…" he answered her unsurely.

To his relief, she smiled brightly at him. "That's good to hear. I'm actually glad that I found someone else in here. I was beginning to think I was stuck here alone…"

"Where is _here_ anyway?"

"This place," she began while waving her arm to their surroundings, "is known as the Realm of Darkness… I came here after I saved my friend from getting stuck here. I took his place and got stuck here in the process. What about you?"

"I…I don't really know… I mean, the last thing I remember was fighting in this war and seeing the Darkness slowly engulf my world. My friend gave me his power and mixed it with mine before I used it to leave my world. Next thing I know, I'm waking up on this beach with this KeyBlade in my hands."

"You were in a war?" she asked him in shock. "You don't look like you're even 20yrs old! Why were you fighting at such a young age?"

"I was fighting for peace," he said with narrowed eyes as he gazed out to the sea. His tone froze Aqua in place and she listened to him explain. "In my world, we're taught how to fight at young ages and how to protect our homes and precious people. I may be only 17 right now, but I still know things that most adults from my world don't even know. I know what it's like to fight for what is right…and how to lose those you love…"

Aqua's eyes turned sad at the bitter tone in his voice when he spoke of loss. It still amazed her that someone three years her junior could fight in a war, but then again Ventus was only 14 when he fought with her and Terra at the KeyBlade Graveyard against Xehanort and Vanitas. Hearing about a 17yr old fighting for those he cherishes and for peace wasn't that farfetched.

"I'm sorry to hear that… I never thought you'd have to go through all of that."

Naruto turned to her and saw the regret in her eyes at her question. He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and met her regretful eyes with his own slightly happy ones. "It's alright… I'd have to talk about it eventually and you didn't know. You don't have to apologize, Aqua."

Aqua met his small smile with her own and gave a small nod. "Alright, and if you need to, you could always talk to me about it."

"I appreciate that, Aqua."

She then looked to the unmoving moon on the horizon and sighed sadly. "It looks like we're going to be here a while."

Naruto sighed as well before the two sat on the shore; Naruto groaning slightly as his pain-filled body protested against the movement.

Aqua looked to him in concern and questioned, "Are you going to be okay?"

He clenched his eyes in pain as he finally sat on the ground. "Yea, I'll be fine after some rest. I just have some wounds from my last battle."

"If you're hurt, I can heal you," she offered as she summoned her KeyBlade, Stormfall, in a flash of light.

The guard was circular and somewhat jagged around its edges while the upper half of the guard was black, the center was grey, and the bottom of it was white. The handle was a featureless, grey rod and the shaft of the KeyBlade was thin and navy blue in coloration; except for the tip, which was silver. The base of the shaft also sported two diamond-shaped bumps and the teeth were comprised by a rectangular frame lined with four short, blunt spikes. This frame and the spikes were all navy blue. The teeth also had three silver pieces bent at right angles; two on the inside corners of the frame and one on the inside center of one side. The Keychain links and token resembled water drops in the rain.

"Just hold still and I'll fix you up," she said as she pointed the tip of her KeyBlade at him. "**Cure**!" she cried as a small flash of green light shot from her Key and hit Naruto. The blonde immediately felt his wounds close up and heal at a rapid rate. Five seconds later and his body was back at 100%.

He carefully moved various parts of his body and checked for any twinges of pain or any aches. It surprised him that there were none and he was perfectly healthy. "That's amazing… I feel better than ever!" he exclaimed with a smile. His smile turned into his famous fox-like grin as he turned to Aqua. "Thanks for that, Aqua-chan!"

Aqua smiled back at him before what he said rang through her ears. "What does 'chan' mean?"

"Oh, in my world, 'chan' is an honorific used for friends in terms of women. For men, the honorific is 'kun'."

"Y-You see me as a friend? But we just met," she asked in confusion.

"Hey, anyone who would selflessly heal me and speak to me as nice as you have is a friend in my book!" Naruto replied with his grin in place.

Aqua looked to him in slight surprise at how accepting he was before she smiled back. This young man in front of her was different… Not in a bad way, but still not exactly in a way she was used to. Most people she met weren't nearly as accepting as him, but he had this aura about him that just made you want to befriend him.

Her smile still in place, she reached her hand out to him and held it before him. When he looked to it and then her in confusion, she elaborated, "Well then, here's to a new friendship, Naruto."

His grin returned when he grabbed her hand and shook it.

That was the start of their friendship in the Realm of Darkness and they were happy to have someone to be beside in the lonely place. After some time, Naruto asked the KeyBlade Master to teach him how to better wield his own since he had zero experience with weapons other than kunai and shuriken. Since she had never taught anyone before, due to being a new Master, she was obviously nervous about teaching him. However, when she saw the drive in his eyes, she couldn't turn him down.

She started him off with basic stances and forms, to allow him to get a better feel with his weapon. After some time, she then had him move on to more advanced forms, but she found out that her style of "Flowing Combat" wasn't really suited for him. While she "flowed" around the battlefield, he shot through it like a bullet and used deceptive strikes to deal damage. So, she had him work with that and develop a "Trickster" style of combat that made him disorient the enemy with his speed before going in for unexpected strikes. He took to that kind of fighting like a fish to water.

The next thing she had him try was Magic. When she explained how Magic was drawing the power from your KeyBlade and using it in various ways, he told her about how his chakra worked in a similar manner. When he demonstrated with his **Kage Bunshin** (Shadow Clone), she was left speechless at the display. It turned out that teaching him how to summon forth Magical Power was much easier since he was already used to drawing forth and utilizing energy. He even had a specialized element like she had. Where she had favored Ice and Healing Magic, he surprisingly favored Wind and Light Magic. His Light magic mainly came in the same form as Reflect magic, but it was also able to be utilized as a ranged attack. She was amazed at how prodigious he was with her teachings.

The final thing she taught him didn't use the KeyBlade. It was actually using the power of his KeyBlade to form a specialized Armor like she had. When he asked her about it, she pointed to the pieces she had on her and told him of how, when activated, it would cover his entire body for better protection against the Darkness and even let him survive the Doorways between other worlds.

When he asked her to show him hers, she complied and summoned forth her Armor. Her Armor was mostly colored in shades of silver, black, grey, and blue. Notable additions that Naruto saw included a silver breastplate resembling an upside-down crescent moon and a dark-visored helmet. Her helmet bore two prongs on either side, with her silver ones wrapping around the sides and angling diagonally downwards. She also wore a cape that was a dusty-rose color.

It amazed Naruto that she was able to summon forth something like that, but it confused him as to why she didn't use it to escape. Her answer was that the Armor she showed him was much weaker than her original which she used to get her friend Terra out of the Darkness. Once he understood that, they got to work on summoning forth his own Armor.

When they finally succeeded, Naruto stood before her in Armor that was mainly gold, black, and orange in coloration. His helmet, chest plate, and shin guards were gold in color while his arms and legs were covered in black. On his helmet were prongs like Aqua's Armor, but they were styled as fox-like ears and were trimmed with orange. His cape was rust orange, as was his visor.

When he finally succeeded in creating his own Armor, Aqua congratulated him and asked for him to let it recede into a small piece like hers when she wasn't using it. His small piece of the Armor was like Terra's; covering his entire left arm and leaving his hand and fingers bare. The coloring was black with an orange trim and a golden rounded piece that rested on his shoulder. However, Naruto noticed something different with his Armor. It was a mix of his chakra and the energy from his KeyBlade, resulting in a sturdier and self-repairing Armor. This surprised his teacher, but she was still glad that he had some added protection.

It was now what felt like a week after Naruto formed his Armor, due to their inability to determine time in the Realm of Darkness. The duo sat on the shore and gazed at the silvery moon like they had done many times before. It was nice being with one another after so long. They had easily established a strong friendship and even shared stories of their past with one another. Aqua had told him of her times with Terra and Ventus when they were still in training while Naruto told him of his early years as a Genin of Konoha. He had even trusted her enough to tell her of the Kyuubi that resided within him. At first, she was incredibly surprised and skeptical of his claim, but he was able to explain how such a thing was possible and even told her that he suspected that Kurama had become his KeyBlade. When she looked at it and remembered that it was a Nine-Tailed _Fox_ that was sealed within him, she agreed that it was a high possibility that the fox had become Naruto's Key.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Naruto. He seemed to have aged about a year, though the two were still uncertain since they couldn't measure time. Still, his voice had become slightly more mature (1) as well as his facial features due to the loss of his baby fat. "I have my Armor now and you told me that a KeyBlade can become a Glider. Are we going to work on that next?"

"I'm not sure if you'll be able to make a Glider if Kurama is your KeyBlade, Naruto," she admitted to him sadly. She hadn't changed much during their time save for her feminine form becoming slightly more pronounced. "We may be stuck here for a while longer."

"That doesn't mean that we can't try!" he said in determination, making her smile. No matter how much he seemed to mature, that drive of his never lessened.

"Alright, we can try and see if it'll work. Although, I still don't think it will…"

**"Such little faith you have, Key Bearer,"** came a voice that Naruto instantly recognized.

"Kurama, is that you?" he asked excitedly.

**"Yea, it's me. Down here!"** he called out, making them look to Naruto's KeyBlade and see the fox head grinning at them. **"You didn't think you'd be able to get rid of me **_**that**_** easily, now did you?"**

Naruto laughed at that raised the tip of his Key so that the fox could see them better. "It's good to hear your voice again, Kurama."

**"Yea… Sorry I took so long to talk to ya, but I was restoring my power. But I guess you can't complain all that much considering the company you've had,"** the fox said with a grin.

The two blushed at the hidden message. "N-No, you got it all wrong! We're just friends, right Aqua?"

The bluenette nodded. "Y-Yea, we're just friends!"

The fox laughed at the duo and their blushing faces. **"Calm down, I was just joking. In all honesty, I am glad that you weren't **_**completely**_** alone while you were stuck here. Now that my power is restored, I believe I could get you two out of here and to the nearest world."**

Naruto fist pumped at the new while Aqua had a large smile on her face. In his happiness, the blonde grabbed the bluenette in a hug and twirled her around, making her blush at the action. When he realized what he was doing, he immediately set her down and took a step away from her with his own blush.

**"Well, now that you two are done hugging, let's get started. Naruto, throw me into the air and I'll take care of the rest."**

The Uzumaki nodded and threw his Key with all of his strength. When it was high enough, it was engulfed in a flash of light that blinded the two Key Bearers. When the light died down, a black and orange hoverbike was parked in front of them. It was big enough to seat two, had nine thrusters in the back, and the hood was in the visage of a large fox head. The two smiled at the ride out of the depressing realm and summoned forth their armor before they got on with Naruto in control.

**"You two ready?"** asked Kurama from a speaker on the Heads Up Display (HUD) of the bike.

"Ready to go!" Naruto said with a grin hidden by his helmet.

"Let's get out of here!" Aqua exclaimed happily.

The bike jerked slightly before it rose a few inches off the ground. Naruto revved the engine and the bike flew up and out of the Realm of Darkness.

The adventure had begun for the two Key Bearers.

(End)

1~ Think of his voice like that of Raiden's from the Metal Gear series (which I do _not_ own)

And that, my loveable readers, is chapter one of a hopefully stellar story! I hope you all liked it! Please review and ask any questions via PM.

As for worlds (which I have no doubts you all are curious about), I'm going to focus on the Disney/Pixar Worlds that the KH series never bothered to add. I'll also throw in one world that is from a video game series! Hope you all enjoy it!

Next Time: The two Key Bearers arrive in their first world! Which one will it be? Stay Tuned!

-pain17ification


	2. Chapter 2: What's Lost is Now Found

Hello FanFiction! This is pain17ification posting the next chapter of "Heart of a Ninja"!

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own a thing but this story idea!

Random Thing: Anyone else ever notice that Terra and Sasuke have _very_ similar hair styles?

Before anyone else asks me, this story will follow KH2 canon only. After that, it is over and I will end it.

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

**"Kurama Talking/Techniques"**

(Translations and A.N. Numbers)

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 2: Reclaiming What Was Once Lost

After a mind blowing ride through the Pathways between Worlds (well for Naruto anyway), the Jinchuriki and the Key Master approached a World that had an incredible amount of Darkness near its core. But it was not a hopeless World since there were also plenty of sources of Light within it as well.

"I wonder what that World is," Naruto voiced his thoughts.

"It looks familiar…" Aqua commented as Kurama flew down and entered the World's border.

When the two parked the hoverbike, they saw that they were near a mountainside which had an incredibly large yellow pipe running out of it and into the ground. There were stairs leading to a lower area and a mountainous pathway leading to another area.

"Well, I wasn't really expecting this when we landed," Naruto commented. "Where are we anyway?"

Aqua checked the HUD on Kurama and looked up any info on the World. "The only thing I can see is that this World is known as Hollow Bastion. But, there's something about this World that seems…familiar."

Naruto was about to ask her about it but he stopped when he felt something. It felt like…an energy signature. To him, it felt very familiar, but he was too far from it to be able to tell for sure. He looked to Aqua to see if she noticed it, but the bluenette seemed to be in deep thought over how familiar the World was to her. Meanwhile, Kurama faded in a small flash of red and reappeared in Naruto's hand in his KeyBlade Form.

**"Well, there's no use trying to wrack your brain on something when we can see if anyone can help us. I sense lots of life signatures that way,"** he commented as he forced Naruto's hand to point the Key's tip down the mountain path. **"Get a move on. You two have no food, supplies, or in Naruto's case, a better set of clothes."**

The two Key Bearers looked to Naruto's clothing and saw that it was ripped, caked in dry blood, and parts of it were barely held together. His jacket was so bad that, when the wind picked up, it ripped right off of him and flew away with the breeze, leaving Naruto in nothing more than his black shirt, torn orange pants, his kunai holster, and black sandals.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and sighed at his predicament. "Well, I can't go around the Worlds in nothing more than rags that won't hold. We might as well see if we can find anything."

"Right, and we should be able to find some people who can tell us about this place," Aqua added as the duo began walking down the path. Along the way, Aqua had Kurama fade back into Naruto so that no one would see the KeyBlade.

[Hollow Bastion Marketplace]

It was an uneventful walk to the town area of the World, which worried the two KeyBlade wielders greatly. This World had high levels of Darkness and they had assumed that they would have to fight their way into town. But they met no resistance and easily made it to the Marketplace.

"Something isn't right," Naruto whispered to his friend. "We should've run into _some_ kind of Darkness by now, right?"

Aqua looked around and saw the smiling faces of the people as they walked through the shopping area. "You're right… This is strange…and worrisome."

The duo stopped that train of thought when they finally reached a store that sold clothing. Naruto was about to step inside before the bluenette grabbed his arm. "What's wrong? I thought we were getting me some clothes?"

"We can't get _anything_ without munny…" stated Aqua. "We're both broke, Naruto. How will we pay for anything?"

The woman's statement was like a smack in the face to the blonde. They had nothing! Just the clothes on their backs and their KeyBlades!

"Damn it… What do we do now?" asked the blonde.

Aqua sighed depressingly and began walking out of the shopping area with her friend. "Nothing we _can_ do except find some munny. The ironic thing is that I usually obtained munny when I defeated Unversed and they dropped it."

"The Unversed…had munny?" questioned Naruto with a confused look. "But they were creatures made by Vanitas and his power, right? How the hell did they have munny?"

"I'm not sure of that myself, but I have a theory."

"I'm all ears at this point."

"If the Unversed had munny, why not the Heartless?"

During their time in the Realm of Darkness, Aqua had told the blonde of the creatures without hearts. These creatures born from Darkness traveled the Worlds and took the hearts of others in search of filling up the void that was once _their_ hearts.

Naruto hummed in thought over the idea before he grinned and nodded. "Alright, let's do it!"

[Hollow Bastion Bailey]

The duo quickly made their way outside of the village-like town and tried to sense out any form of Darkness. Like before, it was there but it wouldn't come out to face them.

"I don't understand… We should have seen _something_ by now," Aqua stated as she began to slowly pace around. Naruto was leaning against some rubble and focused on that familiar feeling he sensed when he and Aqua had arrived.

_'Why did it seem so familiar? I've never been to this World before… Hell, I didn't even know that there were _other_ Worlds besides my own.'_

**"Maybe someone from our World ended up here when Darkness swallowed up the Elemental Nations,"** Kurama suggested.

_'No… It doesn't feel like chakra; well not exactly like it anyway. It feels like…a life force from someone.'_

**"Hmm… The only thing I can suggest is for you and your girlfriend to check it out later."**

_'SHE ISN'T MY GIRLFRIEND!'_ Naruto mentally yelled while his face sported a blush. Still, he couldn't help but look at his friend pacing and admire her features. Her hair was as blue as sapphire, as were her eyes, she carried herself with confidence and strength, and she was the kindest person he had ever met.

Kurama saw this and smirked. **"Sure, you say that now, but I can tell that you're thinking about it."**

_'Maybe...'_ Naruto admitted. _'But I can't think about that now. I need to focus on helping Aqua help other Worlds.'_

Kurama sighed at his host and his inability to think about his own happiness. Naruto was a selfless soul who always put others and their needs before himself. He was the type of person who would sacrifice his own life without a moment's hesitation if it meant saving others. At least the man's father focused on his own happiness more than he did helping others.

"Hey, what do you two think you're doing out here?" asked a voice, making the two Key Bearers turn to the source.

They saw that it was a teenage girl with black hair and violet eyes. She wore an unzipped, dark grey combat vest with a black strap dangling from the right pocket overtop a navy blue tank top with white floral designs. The girl also wore a white wristband on her right wrist and a grey, fingerless glove on her left arm. Her shorts were slightly darker and had another black strap dangling from the left side. She finished off the ensemble with black, knee-high socks with white stripes at the top underneath dark tan boots that were slightly shorter than her socks.

"This place is dangerous, y'know? It's away from the town's defense system," she informed them.

"Defense system?" asked Aqua.

"Yea, we set up an automatic defense within the town so that any Heartless who show up will be in for a surprise," she answered with a grin. "By the way, the name's Yuffie; the Number Great Ninja Yuffie!"

"Ninja, huh?" Naruto asked with a smirk. "I'll be the judge of that. My name's Uzumaki Naruto and this here is Aqua."

"Pleased to meet you," the bluenette greeted.

"Nice to meet you two as well. And what do you mean by that earlier comment, Blondie?" questioned Yuffie with a raised brow.

Naruto chuckled before he disappeared into smoke, making Yuffie's eyes widen in surprise while Aqua rolled her own with a smile. "Show off," she muttered to herself.

"You see, I happen to be quite the ninja myself," Naruto said as he stood right behind the brunette. "Think you have what it takes to compete with a _real_ ninja, Yuffie-san?"

The ninja girl turned and saw the playful smile on his face and she grinned back. "I'm sure I can manage," she said before she jumped back and pulled out a large four-point shuriken almost half her size.

Naruto pulled out his single kunai in response since he didn't want to reveal he had a KeyBlade. The two stared one another down before Naruto smirked. "What do you say we make this more interesting?"

"I'm listening."

"If you win, I'll admit you're a better ninja than me and teach you a unique technique of mine."

"And if you win…?"

"You give me and Aqua enough munny to replace my clothes and get some supplies. Deal?"

"Deal!" Yuffie agreed with a smirk to match Naruto's.

Aqua sighed as she sat on some rubble and watched the two stare each other down. It was Yuffie who made the first move and flung her shuriken at the blonde before she covered the area in smoke pellets. Naruto easily ducked under the shuriken and blended in with the smoke just as Yuffie tried to get the drop on him with three hand-sized shuriken. She quickly grabbed her larger one and focused her hearing in hopes of finding the blonde.

Naruto meanwhile used the smoke to his advantage and created two clones and had them surround the ninja girl. One of them caught her attention by kicking aside some smaller pieces of rubble and she immediately threw her weapon at it. The clone let itself get hit and disappeared while the other one picked up her discarded smaller shuriken.

When the ninja girl went to see if she hit her target, she saw that her shuriken was stabbed into the ground and no one else was in sight. She went to grab her weapon before she heard the sound of air being cut through and jumped back, avoiding her stolen shuriken. "Hey, no using the other's weapons!" she called out into the smoke.

"We're ninja, remember? We use any means to win; even stealing our opponent's weapons," answered the clone while the original Naruto slowly made his way to her. The clone quickly rushed Yuffie in a blur of speed and got within her guard. She didn't have time to raise a defense as the clone slid under her legs and tripped her before disappearing in a plume of smoke. The next thing Yuffie knew was the feeling of steel against her neck. She looked up and saw the original standing over her with his kunai to her throat. "I win, Yuffie-san," he said with a smirk.

Yuffie pouted at her predicament and whined, "No fair…"

"Like I said earlier; we're ninja and we use any means to win. We don't play _fair_." He then helped her up and smiled to her. "Still, that was a fun fight. It's been a while since I faced another ninja. You're pretty good."

Yuffie smiled back. "Thanks, but you were still better. So, I guess I owe you two some munny, huh?"

Naruto surprised her by waving her off. "Nah, don't worry about it. We'll figure something out, right Aqua?"

The bluenette nodded. "Yea, we don't want to take your munny."

"A-Are you sure? I mean, I made a bet with you and I wouldn't feel right if I didn't fulfill my end of it."

"Absolutely. We'll just find another way to make some munny. Don't worry about it," assured the blonde.

Yuffie still looked unsure as she saw the two start to walk away from her. She then got an idea and ran up to them. "Hey, follow me!" she called out as she ran past them and made her way back to town. The two Key Bearers looked to one another before they followed her. They followed the ninja girl to a strange looking home within the Borough and went with her inside.

In the home were four other people. One was an elderly man with snow white hair and a mustache-beard combo that reached his lower legs. He had on a pointed blue hat and what the two assumed was an enlarged night shirt of the same color. He also had rounded glasses on his face.

The next person was a middle-aged blonde man with blue eyes and a toothpick in his mouth. He wore a white T-shirt with two buttons descending from the neck. His baggy pants were blue and had a very wide, orange waistband with thin, vertical stripes on it. The man's pants were worn rather high, with the waistband coming up to just under his ribcage and showed his gray socks and black shoes.

The third person was a woman with brown hair and green eyes. She wore a carmine pink and white top held up by a string that wrapped around her neck. Underneath this top, she wore a pink dress with a horizontal white stripe near the bottom. She wore yet another dress underneath the first one; this dress being white and slightly longer than the first, reaching her shins. She also wore brown boots and her hair was long and styled into a braid down her back, with curls on either side of her face.

The last person was an adult male with brown hair and blue eyes. His hair swept slightly over the left side of his face and reached his shoulders in the back. He wore black gloves, black zipper-lined shoes, a silver Griever necklace, and a white undershirt under a short, black jacket with white fur lining the collar. The left shoulder of the jacket also had a red Griever symbol on it. He completed his attire with three brown belts on his left forearm and two brown belts in a crisscross fashion around his waist.

Yuffie smiled to the two Key Bearers and stated, "Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!"

The brunette male turned his attention to them and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Yuffie, what are you doing bringing these two here?"

"Aw, c'mon Leon! I met them earlier and challenged Blondie to a ninja battle!" she exclaimed exuberantly. She then sheepishly rubbed her head and finished, "But I lost to him in the end. So, I decided to help them out! I mean, look at him; his clothes are practically rags!"

The woman looked to Naruto and was surprised at how similar his facial appearance looked to another friend of hers. The only thing that could really tell them apart was the strange markings on his cheeks. She also sensed that his aura was slightly lighter than her friend's. "You beat Yuffie?" she asked in a soft voice.

Naruto looked to her and nodded with a small smile. "Yea, but she didn't make it easy for me. She's good, but she needs a bit more practice. By the way, my name is Uzumaki Naruto."

"And my name is Aqua," said the bluenette. "We told Yuffie not to worry about helping us, but she insisted."

"Well you're okay in my book, kid," stated the elderly blonde. "Anyone who can put Short Stuff in her place is okay in my book."

"Hey, who asked you Cid?!" yelled the ninja girl.

"Now now, that's quite enough," said the oldest one in the room. "Now, I believe that Yuffie did the right thing in bringing them here. These two have the spark."

"What exactly are you saying, Merlin?" asked Leon.

The now-named Merlin turned to the Key Bearers and asked, "Would you two be so kind as to show us your KeyBlades, please?"

The two gaped in surprise that he was able to tell they had Keys so easily. "H-How did you-?" started Aqua before Merlin raised a hand to stop her.

"I've been around for quite a while, my dear. I know who carries the spark of being a Key Bearer with just a glance nowadays. Now, if two would show us…"

The Jinchuriki looked to his friend for confirmation and she nodded. In twin flashes of light, their KeyBlades appeared in their hands.

"Extraordinary…" Merlin murmured. "I sense incredible power coming from your Keys, but the young man's is practically _radiating_ power. How is it that you can control such a high level of power, young man?"

Naruto rubbed his head in thought before he answered, "Well, I see my KeyBlade as a _partner_ and not as a tool or a weapon. I listen to it and take its opinions into account and it supplies me the strength needed to fight."

"You…communicate with your Key? How is that possible?"

Naruto shrugged in mock confusion and hoped that they bought it. No sense in letting them know that a giant Nine-Tailed Fox that was once sealed in his gut is now his KeyBlade.

"Either way, this is great news," said the brunette woman. "They can help out Sora and the others."

"Sora?" asked Aqua in surprise. She had met the boy years ago on the Destiny Islands and told him about friendships and how powerful they were.

Yuffie took the surprise a different way and answered, "Yea, he's another KeyBlade wielder who goes to other Worlds and deals with the Heartless there. You two can help him out!"

"How do we even know that they're on our side?" asked Leon. "Their Keys could serve the Darkness."

"Quit being so negative, Leon," admonished the other brunette.

"I'm just saying that we don't know anything about them, Aerith. I'm not being negative, I'm being cautious."

"Well I trust them," stated the newly named woman. "They have Light flowing within them and I can see that they're good people."

"How can you trust them when all we know are their names and that they're KeyBlade wielders?"

Aerith didn't answer him and stood in front of Naruto, her green eyes staring deep into his. Naruto was a bit unnerved and Aqua felt something unknown bubble within her. Aerith kept looking into his eyes before a smile crossed her face. "You're a very selfless person, Naruto."

He raised a brow at the random comment. "Excuse me?"

"You don't care if you die fighting for your loved ones so long as they're kept safe… You put others and their happiness before your own… And you have this gift of bringing the best in people… You're very…unique."

**"Wow… She's either a very impressive empath or something else entirely. It only took her two minutes to figure all of that out,"** commented the fox mentally.

_'Yea… No kidding.'_

Aerith kept her smile as she turned to the others. "They're trustworthy. Cid, give them some munny, and Leon, take them to the old lab."

The elder blonde nodded while Leon looked confused. "What? Why do you want me to do that?"

"There's something there that they need; something hidden in Ansem's study."

Leon looked ready to argue more, but he just sighed and nodded. "Fine, I'll take them after they get their supplies."

Aerith nodded with a smile and took the munny from Cid before giving to the duo. "After you get what you need, head to the Bailey. Leon will meet you there."

The two nodded and Yuffie suddenly popped up in front of them. "Also, take these!" she exclaimed before handing them cards. "You two are now official Restoration Committee Members!"

Naruto and Aqua looked surprised at that and the blonde asked, "Why? I mean, we just met today and, like Leon said, we don't really know each other."

Yuffie thrust the cards into their hands and smiled. "Aerith trusts you, and that's good enough for me. Besides, if you were really against us, then you would have killed me earlier. So, welcome aboard!"

Unable to come up with any other arguments, the duo just nodded and went to get their supplies.

[One Hour Later]

Leon sighed for the third time as he waited for the two newest Restoration Committee Members to show up. He knew Aerith had the best judgment in determining whether someone was trustworthy or not, but it was too coincidental. Sora leaving for a new adventure about a week and a half ago, a new group calling themselves Organization XIII shows up, and now two new Key Bearers show up out of the blue.

'_This can't be a simple coincidence… But, I can't figure out how it connects. Those two didn't look like they knew Sora at all. And if they're such powerful Key Bearers, according to Merlin, then where were they this whole time?'_

He was brought out of his thoughts when the duo finally showed up and the blonde was finally in decent clothing. He still wore his black sandals but he also wore dark gray cargo pants held up by a black belt, a rust orange T-shirt under a short-sleeved black jacket, and a black cloth around his forehead like a headband. Leon also noted that the jacket the blonde had was longer in the back than on the sides. While the sides reached his waist, the coattails reached the backs of his knees (1).

"Finally showed up, huh?" asked the gunblade wielder.

"Sorry, it took longer than we thought it would," Aqua said in an apologetic tone.

Leon waved her off and began making his way to the Postern which would take them to the hidden lab. "You two should know that we just recently found this place. We haven't really had much time to fully check it out."

"That's alright," Naruto stated. "I'm used to going into places practically blind. Thanks for taking us there though, Leon."

"Don't mention it."

It was a very quiet walk to them and, like earlier, no Heartless jumped in their path. Like the two had felt earlier, Leon knew that something wasn't right and his suspicion concerning the duo was slowly increasing. If they had such high levels of Light, then why was it that the Darkness wasn't trying to get them?

Aqua was both concerned and relieved that they hadn't run into any Heartless. Sure, not running into _anything_ was a great cause for concern, but she was glad that there wasn't a need to fight.

Naruto himself was feeling incredibly bored. He was all for having a peaceful walk, but he was starting to get a little stir crazy. He wanted to test his strength against some Heartless, but the damn things were nowhere in sight!

When they finally reached the Postern, Leon led them through the underground corridors and to a large doorway. He turned to them and said, "This is Ansem's office. Like I said earlier, we haven't had much time to search the place, so be careful. We don't know if the place is rigged with defensive traps or anything." The two nodded and followed Leon inside.

What greeted them was a circular room with a rounded table in the center, many bookshelves, and a large portrait of a man that made Aqua's eyes widen in surprise.

"Terra…?" she whispered and only Naruto heard her.

He looked at the portrait as well and tilted his head at the sight. "That's Terra?" he asked in the same hushed tone she used.

"It's what he ended up looking like after Xehanort took over his body."

Naruto shivered at that. _'Great… Another Orochimaru wannabe…'_

"That is Ansem the Seeker of Darkness," Leon stated. "He's the one responsible for most of the Heartless across the other Worlds. Sora and his friends took him down a year ago and we haven't heard from them until about two weeks ago."

_'Ansem?'_ thought the duo in confusion.

_'Why would he change his name when no one but me knew of Xehanort taking his body?' _mentally questioned Aqua.

Naruto went back to looking at the picture and sensed the familiar presence he felt before coming from behind it. _'I wonder…'_ he thought before he moved the portrait aside and the trio saw a worn out keypad next to a slightly opened door.

"Well what do you know?" Leon commented. "Never thought that he'd actually hide a door behind his own portrait…"

"Aqua, there's something down there…something that feels familiar," informed the blonde before he summoned his KeyBlade.

Aqua focused her senses down the doorway and sensed a faint presence that felt…like hers! Without another word, she made her way through the door and down a metal stairway followed by her friend.

"Leon, keep searching the office!" Naruto called back. "There could be some things we missed."

"Got it, but be careful down there," he called back.

The two Key Bearers made their way down deep underground for what felt like ten minutes while the presence's energy signature was growing stronger and stronger. They finally reached a metallic sliding door and opened it revealing an open white room with a circular tank big enough to hold a person inside of it. And in the tank…

"Is that…your Armor?" Naruto asked.

Aqua slowly approached the Armor and pressed her hand against the tank. "Yes…it is. But…I sense a great Darkness coming from it."

"Well, we can't just leave it here," Naruto stated as he walked up to a small keypad next to the tank and pressed the "Open" button. The tank drained the water suspending the Armor before the glass casing sunk into the floor and the Armor fell to the floor. "There we go. Now we can-"

"_Darkness..._" came a voice that sounded like Aqua's but it was slightly distorted. "_It's all around me… It feels so cold. This power; it… it feels familiar…_" The Armor then focused its visor covered helmet at Naruto. "_But… No…you're not the one. You're not the one I have chosen. Ven…Terra… Where are you…? I miss you._" A dark blue aura soon covered the Armor and it began to rise to a standing position."_Xe…ha…nort… Xehanort… Xehanort! What have you done to them?! Give them back to me!_"

It then summoned Aqua's old KeyBlade, Rainfell, into its right hand and got into a ready stance. Around the room, a barrier covered the walls and doorway, preventing any escape.

"_Give them back, Bringer of Darkness!_"

(Play "Kingdom Hearts OST: Darkness of the Unknown; Vs. Dragon Xemnas")

Aqua and Naruto readied their Keys and waited for the Armor to make the first move. The Armor charged at them and swung its Key, releasing many shots of **Blizzard** at them. The two rolled out of the way and Aqua shot **Fire** magic at the Armor while Naruto used **Aero** to increase the power of the flame.

The Armor used **Reflect** to block the combo spell and send it back at them. However, Naruto countered with **Light** and the inferno disappeared as it hit the small light beam. Naruto then summoned four **Kage Bunshin** and had them rush the Armor.

"**U…zu…ma…ki**!" called out the clones as it kicked the Armor higher into the air. The real Naruto was above it, spinning to gain momentum, and swung his Key down with a cry of, "**Naruto Kagiken Rendan** (KeyBlade Barrage)!" the fox-like KeyBlade struck the Armor and sent it crashing back to the floor.

Just as it was about to hit the ground, Aqua fired a **Blizzara** shot at it and froze it in place. "There… That ought to do it," she said with a slight pant.

Within the ice, the Armor's dark blue aura changed to midnight black and it broke the icy prison with a wave of power.

(Play "Kingdom Hearts OST: Darkness of the Unknown; Vs. Armored Xemnas")

"_I won't stop until I save my friends from you, Xehanort!_" called out the Armor as it rushed Naruto and threw its KeyBlade at him. The Key whirled through the air and clashed with Naruto's in a power struggle. The Rainfell Key was spinning at high speed and slowly pushing Naruto back. "_Give up Xehanort and tell me what you've done with them!_"

Naruto grit his teeth and summoned **Light** magic into his Key. "I…am not…Xehanort!" he cried as he swung his Key and made the Rainfell fly back towards the Armor.

The Armor easily caught it and shot a **Fira** spell at the blonde. Naruto retaliated with a **Light** spell used as a defensive barrier. The barrier absorbed the flame, changing it from red-orange to reddish-white and he fired it back at the Armor. The Armor was about to block, but Aqua distracted it with a **Blizzara** spell and caught its right leg in an icy prison. Unable to move, the Armor took the **Light** enhanced **Fira** head on and was blasted back into the wall.

Naruto and Aqua stood next to one another and pointed their Keys at the Armor simultaneously. Their pointed KeyBlades were covered in two auras; bright blue with a white outline for Aqua and snow white with an orange outline for Naruto. "**Holy**!" the duo called as they fired their auras at the Armor. The mixed energies fused together and became bright blue with streaks of orange and white before they hit the Armor. A cry was heard from it as the energies slowly destroyed the Darkness used to taint it. It slowly rose into the air and let out another cry as the Darkness erupted from it and dissipated into the air.

"_Thank you…_" whispered the Armor as it fell lifelessly back to the floor.

(Stop Music)

Both Key Bearers were panting at the loss of adrenaline as they made their way to the Armor. Aqua knelt down next to it and tapped the helmet with her KeyBlade, making it fade in a flash of light. When the light died down, Aqua stood in her full Armor and Naruto easily sensed how much more powerful the original was compared to the substitute she had before.

"Alright, we got your Armor back!" cheered the blonde. "Isn't it great?"

Aqua sealed away her Armor and smiled at her golden haired friend. "Yes… It's great, and I feel like I have my old strength back again."

"Awesome! Now we can head back up and let everybody know that things are alright down here."

The bluenette nodded and they made their way back up.

[Merlin's House; Half an Hour Later]

"Well, I must say that I'm glad that you two were able to get rid of that source of Darkness. However, it seems that all of that Darkness your Armor was forced to contain was actually keeping the Heartless at bay from the city since they were more drawn to it. Now that the Darkness has been eliminated from the Armor, the Heartless will soon resume their attacks on the town," Merlin stated after the KeyBlade Duo told the others what had happened.

"Will you need us to stay and help fight?" asked Naruto in concern.

Yuffie waved his question off with a smile. "Nah, don't worry about it so much Whiskers! We'll be just fine!"

Cid and Aerith nodded while Leon said, "What you two need to do is focus on helping out the other Worlds and the Darkness affecting them. If you happen to meet Sora along the way, be sure to lend him a hand."

"Alright, we'll help him if we see him," Aqua stated with a nod.

"Yea, we'll be there for him. But you all better hold the fort here!" Naruto added, making the others chuckle at his outburst.

"I don't think that'll be too big of a problem," Leon said with a smirk.

"Yes yes, everything will be fine," Merlin confirmed. "Now off you go! Be sure to help out as many Worlds as you can! We need all of their support in this fight!"

"Got it!" Naruto said as he turned his KeyBlade into his fox-themed hoverbike and Aqua changed hers into a floating bow-platform fusion with the bow part acting as the steering mechanics. "We'll see you all again!" called out the blonde as he shot out of the World's border.

"Take care!" Aqua called while she followed him and the others waved bye.

It was on to the next World, and the next chapter of their adventure!

(End)

1~ Think any of you can draw him for me? I promise to reward you! ^_^

And that, my loveable readers, is chapter two of this story! I hope you all liked it! Please review and ask any questions via PM.

Next Time: The two Key Bearers head off to handle the Darkness of another World! Which one will it be? Stay Tuned!

-pain17ification


	3. Chapter 3: The Devil's Gambit Pt 1

Hello FanFiction! This is pain17ification posting the next chapter of "Heart of a Ninja"!

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own anything except for the story idea! Damn it...

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**"Kurama Talking/Techniques"**

(Translations and A.N. Numbers)

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 3: Devil's Gambit Pt 1

The first thing the KeyBlade Duo saw as they approached their next destination was the dense forest that they were heading into. There wasn't much skylight space for them to sneak through, so they just flew through the branches and found a decent spot to land. Dismissing their Armor and recalling their KeyBlades, they took a better look at their surroundings.

"Ah, forests… You gotta love them!" Naruto said with a grin. "They're a shinobi's best friend!"

"Why's that?" asked the bluenette as she began walking down a random path followed by her whiskered friend.

**"Shinobi are basically ninja, girl,"** answered the foxy KeyBlade. **"They're all about stealth and remaining hidden from their targets."**

"Forests are dense enough, and vast enough, for shinobi to do just that without much difficulty. Not to mention that my home village was surrounded by forests; hence why it's called the Village Hidden in the _Leaves_."

Aqua nodded in understanding and would've said something, but an otherworldly screech caught their attention and made them race to find the source. They reached a wide clearing that had a very large onyx colored wall with a small pedestal next to it. The pedestal had a glowing green sphere floating above it.

In the clearing was also a man. He had silver hair and wore red pants that were covered by black leather chaps, a black vest, black boots, and had a red trench coat over it all. His hands sported gloves that left his ring fingers and pinkies bare and on his back rested a broadsword that was almost as long as he was tall.

He didn't seem to notice them and had his gaze skyward, prompting the two to see what he was gazing at. In the air was a plant-like snake swerving through the sky and releasing some orb shaped projectiles into the forest. The man shook his head with an annoyed sigh before he began kicking some of the orbs back at the snake. They bounced across the trees and into branches, which altered their course and made them head for the snake; which revealed itself to be a woman. The orbs hit her in the face with perfect succession, annoying her and making her glare at the man.

"Who the hell are you?!" raged the snake woman.

The man crossed his arms with a small smirk and replied, "I'm glad I got your attention. I was beginning to feel a little ignored."

"You may jest, but only kindness I offer is to unify and spend eternity with a child of mine!" she roared as she reassumed her snake form and clamped her jaws on the man.

"Oh shit!" Naruto cursed at the speed of it all. "We gotta help him!"

He was gone before Aqua could stop him. "Naruto, wait! We don't even know what's going on!"

The blonde would have argued, but he heard a struggle and saw the man force the jaws open with his sword flat against the roof of the mouth and his feet on the tongue. "You know, as appealing as that sounds, I think I'll pass," he said as he jerked the jaws open enough for him to jump out. The snake assumed her human-like form as he continued, "Though a fight every now and then does make life a little more interesting." He then pointed the tip of his blade at her and finished, "Don't you think?"

The She Viper snarled at him and was about to attack, but a shot of flame and a shout of, "**Fira**!" interrupted her. She swerved out of the way of the fireball and turned her attention to a blonde man with a strange weapon in his hand. Next to him was a blue-haired woman with an equally strange weapon.

The man raised a brow at the newcomers before his eyes caught sight of their weapons and he smirked. "Well, there's something you don't see every day."

Aqua stood with her KeyBlade ready and whispered to her friend, "What are you doing? We can't just rush in without knowing what's going on!"

It was Kurama who answered. **"That snake is a demon, Aqua. I can sense the demonic power flowing within her. The man has some as well, but it's similar to Jinchuriki; mostly human with a latent demon power within them."**

"Kurama told me to jump in and intervene. Besides, can't you sense the Darkness flowing from her?" asked Naruto.

The bluenette took a moment to open up her senses and a small beacon of Darkness came from the She Viper, making her frown. "I see… In that case, we can't let her hurt innocent people."

"Hey!" called out the man, making them turn to him. "If you two lovebirds are done talking, how about we take care of this chick?"

While they had small blushes at the "lovebirds" comment, they nodded and got ready for the ensuing fight. The She Viper hissed in anger and lunged with rage in her eyes.

(Play "DMC4 OST: She Viper")

The trio scattered as soon as Echidna, the She Viper, made the first move and the red clad man was the first to retaliate with a lunging stab that hit home and cut into the she viper's skin. She growled and smacked him away with her tail, but her righted himself and landed on one of the many tree branches.

Aqua tried firing multiple **Blizzard** spells at Echidna, but she used her snake-like flexibility to swerve out of the way. Naruto used the opportunity to run along her tail and speed toward her face. His chakra grabbed onto her skin, making it easier for him to move, and he swung Kurama at her. However, she dodged at the last second, only receiving a small scratch from the KeyBlade, and backhanded him away. Due to her demonic strength, Naruto was sent flying into the black wall, which cracked slightly at the force of him hitting it.

The silver-haired man jumped out of the trees with two "L" shaped weapons and the Key Bearers heard the sound of multiple "bangs" while flashes of light came from the small openings in the weapons. Small projectiles hit the She Viper, but her scales were too strong for them to do any significant damage.

Aqua focused her magic power throughout her body before she was covered in a light blue aura and fired multiple bubbles at the demoness. "**Bubble Blaster**!" she cried as the bubbles flew at the She Viper and exploded against her scales upon contact.

Echidna cried out in pain at the attack while Naruto used chakra to get an incredibly high jump over her head. In his hand was a spiraling sphere of chakra that changed from glowing blue to glowing pure white with an orange outline. "**Light Rasengan**!" he roared as it crashed into the demoness's back and shot her forward.

The silver-haired man was quick to keep up the assault and through his sword like a javelin before he used his guns to fire at the handle. The blade stabbed into Echidna's chest while the bullets stacked on top of one another and pushed it in deeper. After the sixth bullet hit, the sword went through her body, was caught by Naruto, and used to stab into her tail, holding her in place.

She struggled against her prison and roared in anger and pain at her adversaries. "Damn you! Damn you all! My forest; my _children_!" she cried before the man shook his head and fired one last shot at her. The bullet hit her in the forehead and the KeyBlade Duo watched in fascination as she changed to wood before she exploded with one final scream.

(Stop Music)

"Well, that's one issue solved," commented the man as he put away his weapons. He then turned to the other two and asked, "And what do I owe the pleasure of having two Key Bearers visit my World?"

The two were surprised at that and Aqua asked, "How do you know of the KeyBlade?"

"Some old fart visited this place once. He helped me against some psycho who wanted to use Darkness to control a large cluster of demons by becoming one himself. The old guy destroyed the Darkness in his heart and helped me get rid of the surviving demons. He wasn't that bad of a fighter."

"Who was it that helped you?" asked the blonde.

"Some guy named Eraqus…"

"My master?!" asked Aqua in surprise. "Master Eraqus was the one that helped you?"

"Well, he wasn't such a 'Master' back then. He was just some other punk teen trying to make a name for himself," the man said with a shrug. "Anyway, who are you two?"

"The name's Naruto; Uzumaki Naruto," replied the Jinchuriki with a grin. "And this is my friend Aqua. Who are you?"

"The name's Dante, kid. Now, if we're done introducing…" began the red clad man as he walked up to the wall and grabbed the green orb, letting it merge into his skin. In a flash of light, Dante stood in a pair of steel gray gauntlets and grieves that came with a face mask as well. Along the metal were "veins" that had various colors flowing through them. "That's one Gate down…"

He then punched into the Gate and caused the crack that Naruto had formed earlier to spread upward and split the wall into various pieces. Dante then launched himself up, feet first, and began to rapidly kick the many pieces as he rose higher and higher. Naruto couldn't help but be reminded of Lee's first fight with Gaara during the Chunin Exam Preliminaries as he watched Dante attack the Gate. As soon as the red clad landed, he closed his fist as if he were crushing something in it while the many pieces stacked on top of one another perfectly. He then jumped up over the pieces and karate chopped them in to, resulting in the pieces scattering all over the clearing.

"…Two to go," he said as he dismissed the Devil Arm, Gilgamesh.

"Whoa… That was so awesome!" exclaimed Naruto with a grin.

**"He does have a certain…flare for the theatrics,"** Kurama admitted.

"Honestly, I think he reminds me of you whenever you like to show off, Naruto," said Aqua in a teasing tone, causing the blonde to rub his head sheepishly. "Anyway, what was that thing you destroyed?"

"It's called a Hell Gate; a device used to summon demons from their realm to ours. They're only connected to this World though, so they won't go screwing around in other Worlds."

"That's good to hear. I don't think we'd be able to handle Heartless _and_ demons constantly," Naruto commented while Aqua nodded in agreement.

"Yea, that sure would be a party crasher," Dante said before he looked to Naruto's KeyBlade. "So kid, any reason why your Key has demonic energy?"

Naruto looked uncomfortable at the question while Kurama just rolled his eyes and answered, **"The boy and I are connected; ever since his birth. I became his Key when his World was engulfed in Darkness. I once resided in his mind/soul, but I became a bigger part of him by becoming his KeyBlade and partner."**

The silver-haired man nodded before he looked to a seemingly random direction and narrowed his eyes. "Well, I better get moving. Those Hell Gates won't just wait for me to stop them from releasing more demons." He began walking away and gave a lazy wave to the duo as he resumed his journey.

"Hold up! Maybe we can help you," Naruto called out.

"Naruto, we don't even know what we're going up against. We don't even know if this World has any Heartless to deal with," admonished Aqua.

"We were told to rid the Worlds of Darkness, Aqua-chan. That means demons too," retorted the blonde with a foxy grin that Kurama matched. Personally, the fox was just interested in fighting more of his kind. Demons were the best opponents for testing strength after all.

"Well, as long as you're offering, and you don't mind dealing with more demons, then I don't mind you two tagging along. Besides, you three would make things much more interesting in my opinion; and I never enjoyed boring parties," stated the Demon Hunter as he leaned on a tree and waited for them to make a decision.

"C'mon Aqua-chan, this World needs our help. We can do that by helping out Dante!"

Aqua sighed at the slightly eager tone in his voice and couldn't help but smile. It was one of the things she found endearing in him. No matter what was happening, he always seemed to find the good in it and was eager to help out anyone in need.

"Alright, we'll help him out," she relented, which made Naruto whoop with joy. Like his fox partner, Naruto always enjoyed good fights.

Dante barked out a laugh at the blonde's enthusiasm as he resumed walking. "You're alright, kid."

"My name's not 'kid'! It's Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Word of advice, _Kid_, most people say their last names _after_ their first names," Dante said with a smirk, making Naruto mumble at being called 'Kid' again.

The journey through the dense forest was bothersome in the opinions of everyone, save for Dante who seemed quite laid back with the whole demon situation. The group had to deal with lesser demons known as Scarecrows, demons that looked to be made of incredibly large sacks with blades acting as either an arm or a leg, and Assaults, lizard-like demons that were quick on their feet and had small shields they used to block enemy attacks.

Not to mention the demons known as Faults that swallowed up anything in their range and transported them to a denser part of the forest. Naruto was unfortunate to get caught unawares by them twice and spend over ten minutes each time trying to find the other two. It annoyed Aqua for two reasons; the first was that it was cutting into their time to get to the other Hell Gates and remove them, and the second was because when she was alone with Dante, he wouldn't stop teasing about how they would make a cute couple or just flat out flirting with her.

It got so bad that she was _severely_ tempted to bash his head in with her Stormfall KeyBlade…_with_ the added strength of her Armor.

By the time they finally made it out of the forest and past the secret waterfall entrance to it, Naruto and Aqua were left in awed confusion as to how they went from a dense forest to a snow and frost covered castle. The time of day even changed dramatically from sun-up to the middle of the night. Luckily for them, Kurama had the answer.

**"Demons and demonic items have disturbing effects on the mortal plane. That forest was most likely so dense due to that plant demoness while this sudden snow and cold is most likely due to a demon of a similar type."**

The two took that as the best explanation and just followed Dante through the castle. They had to take a high route first, going around a large clearing down on a lower floor. Although, when they reached a certain part of the walkway, lightning picked up in the distance and quickly moved across the sky before it was revealed to be a demon covered in segments of armor and having lightning current throughout its body. This was known as a Blitz demon, and according to Kurama, striking with any metallic weapons would be idiotic. That ruled out everything they had save for ranged attacks.

Naruto started the attack by launching an **Aero** spell to try and divert the current. He was taught that Wind was naturally better than Lightning, so he used that mentality in his assault. He was right in his planning as the lightning arced away from the Blitz's body, allowing Dante to use his Coyote-A Shotgun to take a clean shot at the torso and Aqua to blast it with a **Fire** spell.

The Blitz cried out in pain as it took the full impact of the attacks and it zipped around the battlefield in flashes of yellow, reminding Naruto of what his father was famous for. He decided to try and match its speed, so he called on Kurama's power to enter his Kyuubi Chakra Mode.

…Except nothing happened; not even a tiny flicker came.

"Kurama, what's going on?!" asked Naruto in confusion as he did a cartwheel to avoid a blast of lightning. "Why can't I access your chakra?"

**"All my power went into the KeyBlade I became, Kit! You're not a Jinchuriki anymore!"** answered the fox, much to the shock of Naruto.

"Damn it!" he cursed as he dodged another lightning strike. He then saw that the Blitz finally stopped having the electrical energy course through its body and took the opportunity to form a **Light Rasengan** and slam it into the demon's chest, making it howl in pain. It began convulsing and channeling red lightning before it roared and exploded in a burst of electrical power. The explosion pushed Naruto back and he slammed into a wall with electricity coursing through him.

Aqua ran up to him and readied her Key. "Hold still, Naruto," she said as she used Healing Magic to cure her friend of any damage he received.

"You okay, kid?" asked Dante as soon as she finished healing the blonde.

"Yea, I'm fine… But I lost access to Kurama's power."

"But I thought he was connected to you?" asked the bluenette in confusion. "How did you lose access to his power?"

"When he became my Key, he split himself from my soul which made me lose my status as a Jinchuriki." He held up the fox-themed KeyBlade and finished, "All his power is in here…but I don't know how to access it."

Aqua was silent since she had no idea either while Dante had a thoughtful look. "Maybe he's become more than a KeyBlade for you…" he said slowly, as if he wasn't sure of it himself.

"What do you mean?" asked the bluenette.

"Well, when a demon gives up their soul and becomes a weapon, it becomes known as a Devil Arm. Maybe your KeyBlade is also a Devil Arm, kid."

**"If that was true, then that means that I'll grow stronger as he continues to utilize me in combat. Maybe after some time, he'll regain access to my Chakra Cloak,"** said the fox thoughtfully.

"It's just a theory for now," Dante said so that the blonde wouldn't get his hopes up. "For now, we should focus on getting rid of the Hell Gate here. We remove the Gate, we restore the castle back to normal."

The two nodded and followed the Demon Hunter through the castle halls. They had many more run-ins with demons along the way; including a new one for the Key Bearers known as Frosts. These demons looked like Assaults, except they had ice-made limbs that were able to be destroyed with decent Fire Magic. Still, Aqua was able to get a couple of ideas for her _own_ Ice Magic after they fought a few of them.

They finally made it to an open courtyard in the center of the castle, which had a nasty blizzard blowing all over it and the Hell Gate on the other end. In the center of it all were two female-shaped creatures that were glowing a deep red and floating around one another in a very provocative way. They beckoned the group closer; something Dante happily responded to.

"Baby, yea!" he exclaimed with a grin as he skated across the ice and made approving noises at their forms and movements.

Naruto sighed at the perverted action before he suddenly felt an aura he was all too familiar with. He slowly turned to Aqua and saw her left eye twitching, making him mentally pray he wouldn't receive her inevitable wrath.

"Naruto…" she called out lowly, making him gulp.

"Y-Yes, Aqua-chan?"

"Is he…_groping_ them?" she asked in a _very_ annoyed tone.

Naruto shivered at the tone and answered, "I don't think so. He's just…making lewd comments."

"I see…" She then turned to him with a smile, though both the blonde and his fox partner swore they saw the Shinigami behind her. "Would you remind me to…_talk_ to him about it later?"

"O-Of course!" he stuttered right as a giant toad covered in ice tried to swallow Dante whole.

"What?! How did you know?" asked the toad in barely concealed anger.

Dante chuckled and answered, "You can hide that body; but that smell? Pew… There's no hiding _that_."

"Insult me one more time, and I'll make you suffer more than you thought possible!" yelled the demonic toad, with green slime coming out of its mouth at every word. It then let out a loud roar that blew the wind across the clearing and pushed one of the coattails of Dante's coat over his head.

(Play "DMC4 OST: Frozen Frog")

He straightened up his coat with a bark of laughter and taunted, "I'd actually like to see you try that."

Aqua sighed at his taunt and was about to say something to her blonde friend, but he was already speeding towards the toad with a grin on his face. She sighed again and readied her KeyBlade while muttering, "And here we go again…"

Dagon, the Master of the Frozen Soil, made the first attack by launching some of the many icicles that hung off of his body and having them rain down on the trio. Naruto and Aqua countered this by using **Light Shield** and **Barrier** spells respectively. Dante used his Trickster fighting style to evade the raining icicles before he shifted to his Gunslinger style and began to bombard the toad with gunfire.

Naruto used his _own_ Trickster style, with the help of some clones, to disorient Dagon. He and his clones ran around the toad at high speed, much like Lee when he was readying his **Omote Renge** (Forward Lotus), before he and his clones used chakra-enhanced kicks to send the toad upward.

"**U-zu-ma-ki**…" began the blonde's clones while the original used chakra to boost his speed so that he was above Dagon. "**Naruto Kagiken Rendan**!" yelled the original as he slammed Kurama into the toad's head, sending it crashing back down.

Aqua followed up by using another Shotlock and surrounding herself in Light Energy. Once she had enough, she shot forward like a bullet with a cry of, "**Photon Charge**!" She shot through the icy toad multiple times before she slammed on top of his head in a large pillar of Light.

Dante, switching to his Sword Master style, finished it off with Gilgamesh using the **Beast Uppercut** technique to relaunch Dagon into the air before he axe-kicked him back to the ground.

As Dante slowly started falling back down, Dagon called out, "Don't think this is the end! There are more of us!" He would've said more, but Dante used Rebellion to slice him in two, making him turn into ice before exploding in a shower of frigid dust.

(Stop Music)

The trio stood before the remains while Dante called forth the orb channeling energy into the Hell Gate. The icy blue orb shot into his hand and, in a flash of light, became a black briefcase that had a silver skull with yellow eyes on the front. From the skull came concessive pulses of yellow light that travelled like blood in veins throughout the briefcase.

Dante chuckled as he tapped the new weapon and said, "He wasn't kidding… It's like an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet!"

Before the trio were five more ice toads that were simply jumping around and being nuisances. Dante placed the briefcase, known as Pandora, down on the ground where it became a gatling gun and he fired multiple shots to push back the toads. He then lifted Pandora and had it shift into a large, three-shot bazooka that fired three simultaneous rockets right in the center of where the toads stood, sending them into the air due to the explosion. He then spun it above his head, making it transform into a tri-bladed boomerang, and flung it at the suspended ice toads. The boomerang sliced through them all before Dante caught it and had it change into a floating missile battery, complete with foot-stands and triggered handles. With a smirk, he pressed the handles forward, releasing a volley of rockets that flew all around the skies above the courtyard before changing their course to crash into the toads and Hell Gate, destroying them all.

When the area was clear, Dante sat the briefcase down and placed a foot on top of it which made the case open. From the open case came a very bright light that caught the trio's attention, but Dante suddenly closed it so that the energy would stay inside.

"That's two down…" he said as he sent Pandora away. "One more to go…"

"Where's the last one?" asked Aqua while Naruto was still thinking of how Tenten would drool over Pandora.

"It's on the outskirts of Fortuna City; near the mining caves," answered the Demon Hunter before the ground around him caved in and he fell down below.

"Dante!" called the Key Bearers as they looked down the hole. "You alright?!" asked the blonde in concern.

"Yea yea, I'm fine. Listen, I'll meet you guys inside the castle halls. I don't think I'll be able to get back up, so I'll just go under," answered the man before he went deeper down. "Be careful!" came his last echoes.

The bluenette sighed at their predicament before she took point. "Come on, we better hurry. We don't know what else might come at us while we just stand here."

"Yea… I don't wanna have to deal with another toad. I may have a connection with them, but even _that_ was too much for my taste," commented the ex-Jinchuriki as he followed his blue-haired friend.

The duo, now unbothered by the ice-blocked pathways, easily traversed through the castle's many halls. Though, they did get lost a couple of times due to being unfamiliar with the place. During a couple of times when they got lost, they had to deal with possessed white armor known as Bianco Angelos. The suits of armor each carried long jousting lances as well as shields that could become wings for them to fly with.

The armor was weak though and the duo was able to dispose of them with some basic Thunder and Fire spells; although, Aqua was able to through in a **Mine Square** just for good measure.

When they finally made it to the grand hall, they saw Dante lounging on one of the many benches with a random "Dude Magazine" in his hand. "Took you long enough," he commented without even bothering to look up. This made Naruto's eye twitch since it reminded him _so_ much of Kakashi. All Dante needed was a headband covering one eye, a different hairstyle, and to switch the magazine for a smut book.

"Can we go now?" asked the bluenette in an annoyed tone. "I'm getting sick of this place…"

Dante and Naruto chuckled at her annoyance and began to walk out of the castle while Aqua muttered something about "insensitive people". Though, she took one longer look at Naruto after she said that before she shook her head with a smile and a faint blush. _'Maybe not _both_ of them,'_ she mentally corrected herself.

Once outside of the castle and into the snowy pathways of the Lamina Peaks, the trio had run-ins with a new demonic adversary; Basilisks, or Hellhounds as Dante liked to call them. These creatures had canine shaped body frames with upper bodies that had furnace-like openings and heads made completely of flame. They were fast, came in packs, and were able to fire their heads as flaming projectiles; something Naruto actually found to be funny and even made a crack at.

"They're using their brains the only way that they know how; throwing them away!" he said with a laugh. His current partners found it funny, though Dante was the only one who laughed out loud while Aqua merely smiled at the joke.

Once they disposed of the Basilisks, they made their way through the mountain pass of the peaks and through the abandoned mines. By the time they finally made it to a snow-free clearing, they saw a giant human statue floating above a city in the distance. Also in the clearing was a large canine-like centaur that had a humanoid torso, a canine body with four legs, and a dog-like face. Surrounding his body were flames of incredible heat and he held a flaming sword in his hand.

"A human," he began, "posing as God? How ridiculous…" He shook his head at the thought of it all before he felt some extra weight on his tail.

"You don't say…" was Dante's response to the fire demon's comment. This caused the fire demon to look down and see Dante waving a hand in front of his face, as if it would cool him down.

"What the-?" began the demon before he swung his tail around and threw Dante off, though the Demon Hunter easily landed on his feet next to Naruto and Aqua.

Of course, he still had to wipe off the excess flames that clung to his coat. "I wish you would've noticed me earlier… Now my coat's all charred…"

"The infamous Son of Sparda…" stated the fire demon. "I will avenge my compatriots' slain by your sword!"

Dante's response was to crouch and wave his hands in a "come hither" motion. "C'mon then, Hothead!"

(Play "DMC4 OST: Sworn Through Swords")

"Aw shit, I can feel his heat from here," Naruto groaned as he and Aqua shot **Blizzara** spells at Berial, the Conqueror of the Fire Hell.

"Less talking, more staying alive, Naruto!" Aqua yelled as she rolled out of the way of a fireball.

"I know, I know! I just never liked heat all that much!" he retorted as he readied **Light** Magic into his Key and swung it at Berial, releasing a claw shaped wave of energy. Dante helped by using his **Drive** attack to fire his own waves of energy.

"Ah c'mon kid, this heat helps fuel us through the battle!" Dante said, making Naruto shudder as he was suddenly reminded of Gai and Lee's "Flames of Youth".

**"Oh Kami-sama, that is something I will always hate to see,"** said the fox with a slight shudder the flowed through Naruto's arm.

"Me too, Kurama…" agreed the blonde as he created a clone and had it go somewhere out of the way. "Alright then, let's get this over with! **Light Blizzara**!" cried the blonde as he fired shots of ice that shined a brighter blue than normal and crashed into the Fire Conqueror's hind legs.

Berial groaned in pain as he was forced to bend his back legs and leave himself slightly open. Dante captivated on this and had Pandora assume its missile battery form and fired a volley of missiles at the demon. Aqua helped by casting a **Magnet** spell in front of Berial's face, giving the missiles a better target. The missiles all struck home and blasted Berial back, but he just got back up with an explosion of power, pushing back the others with its force.

Naruto suddenly felt his clone dispel and smirked as orange pigmentation appeared around his eyes and his blue irises changed to bright yellow with black horizontal pupils. "Great! I still have access to Senjutsu!" he exclaimed while the Nature Chakra flowed throughout his body. He then jumped right at Berial's face and yelled, "Hey, Ugly!" which made the Conqueror turn his attention to the blonde. "Eat this!" he cried as he swung his fist at air, making the others stare in disbelief at what they assumed was a wasted strike. However, the sudden sound of something big striking Berial's face and pushing him back made them see that the hit struck home.

"Nice one, kid!" Dante praised as he called upon his inner demonic power and activated his Devil Trigger. His form became more armored with red and black scales while his chest and eyes shone a fierce magma orange and his hands and feet gained sharp claws. His coat also took the form of wings, though they were closed. **"Alright then! Showtime!"** exclaimed the half devil as he channeled a large amount of his power into rebellion and released an incredibly large **Drive Wave** that crashed into Berial and left a huge gash from his left hip to his right shoulder.

(Stop Music)

Berial fell to his knees and groaned as more blood oozed from his wounds. "You surpassed my abilities… How shameful!" he said in a self loathing tone.

"You can stay and die…" began Dante after he dismissed his Devil Trigger.

"…Or you can walk ugly ass back through that Gate!" Naruto finished.

"It's your call," Aqua said as they all stood with their weapons drawn.

"I've retreated once, and I will _not_ do so again!" he roared as fire took over his entire form and shot it forward in the same manner as a Basilisk demon, except much more powerful.

However, as powerful as it was, Dante just needed a single shot from one of his pistols to make it disperse into a whole mess of embers.

"Well, that's a letdown… I was hoping for a bit more than just a few sparks," Dante said in disappointment.

He then walked up to the Gate and took the orb and it transformed into hellish backpack, shaped like a streamlined skull with large glowing red eyes that stare in fury, with metallic projections protruding from its forehead that gave Dante a semblance of folded wings.

(Play "DMC4 OST: Lucifer")

Dante stared at the Gate for a few silent seconds before he launched himself in the air and summoned two glowing red energy blades. "First I whip it out, and then I thrust it," he began as he began to stab multiple swords into the Gate, "with great force!" Naruto was slowly turning red at the implications of Dante's speech as the man continued. "Every angle…it penetrates! Until," he started throwing more and more blades in rapid succession, "with great strength…" He then had six blades in his hands and launched them all at once. "I _ram_ in it!" He then threw one last one, placing it in the center of a "heart" made of glowing swords, before he landed with a rose in his mouth that he got from…somewhere. "And in the end," he said as he clapped twice and had the "heart" disintegrate and leave a large stone "heart" resting where the Gate was, "we're all satisfied!" He then threw the rose at the final sword and finished his speech with, "And you are set free…" making the "heart" split in two.

(Stop Music)

With the other's, Naruto was beet red while Kurama was barely suppressing his laughter and Aqua looked lost. **"Well,"** began the fox with a chuckle, **"He certainly is **_**descriptive**_**."** He then turned to his blonde partner and smirked. **"Hey Kit, you ever think that you'd do that with Aq-?"**

"SHUT UP, YOU PERVETED METALLIC FOX!" yelled the blonde in embarrassment and slammed the KeyBlade against the ground, which made Aqua turn to him in confusion.

"What was Dante talking about, Naruto?" asked the bluenette, making the blonde look to her in slight fear.

"W-Well, you see… Uh… What he was talking about was… Um…" he said as he tripped over his words.

**"What the man was doing was making sexual puns concerning the male organ and intercourse,"** bluntly answered the fox-themed Key, which made Naruto squeak much like a certain Hyuuga girl did in his past.

Aqua stared blankly at the fox before that familiar feminine fury aura that Naruto was so familiar with returned to her. In a sudden burst of speed, Aqua bashed Dante's head with Stormfall and stood over his prone form with a very noticeable eye twitch. "You…little…PERVERT!" she cried as she began to unleash her feminine fury on him. Naruto stared in shock at it all since he was so used to seeing her so composed, but in the end he just rolled over in full-blown laughter as the scene reminded him so much of the moments when Tsunade bashed in Jiraiya's head for being a pervert. A small part of his mind remained focused on the question Kurama asked that he interrupted.

'_Maybe someday… But only if she feels the same,'_ thought the blonde.

Meanwhile in the afterlife, a certain blonde and a certain redhead were bashing in a certain perverted hermit and yelling about the fact that their "Naru-chan" was corrupted by the man. All the while, a blonde man was chuckling at the scene while a brunette woman sighed at her teacher's friend's antics.

Back on earth, Dante stared at the floating statue, with no markings showing he just suffered Aqua's anger. He raised a gloved hand and clenched it in front of the statue's form. "You don't look so big from where we're standing," commented the Demon Hunter. "All that's left is you, Mr. Savior."

"That's gonna be one hell of a challenge... I can't believe that thing is the town's so-called 'Savior'..." commented the blonde with a sigh.

Aqua nodded with a sad frown. "When you're desperate, anything that seems like it could save you makes you have a tremendous amount of faith in them..."

"Still... He's bullshitting them about this whole thing! These people are falling for his lies and giving him misguided worship!"

"That is why we gotta kick his ass!" Dante stated with a grin. "C'mon, it'll be a piece of cake! The real party is just getting started, kid!"

Naruto grumbled at the man's laid back attitude. "A 'party' he says... More like one of the biggest fights for our lives..."

Aqua nodded with a sigh as the two followed the Demon Hunter to the city. The real fight awaited them there.

(End)

And that, my loveable readers, is chapter three of this story! I hope you all liked it! Please review and ask any questions via PM.

Next Time: The two Key Bearers and the Demon Hunter go against a Scientific Demon and a False Savior! What will happen?! Stay Tuned!

-pain17ification


	4. Chapter 4: The Devil's Gambit Pt 2

Hello FanFiction! This is pain17ification posting the next chapter of "Heart of a Ninja"!

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own anything except for the story idea

"Speech"

_"Distorted Speech"_

_'Thoughts'_

**"Kurama Talking/Techniques"**

(Translations and A.N. Numbers)

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 4: Devil's Gambit Pt 2

After the defeat of Berial and the destruction of the final Hell Gate, the trio began to make their way towards the main streets of Fortuna City. However, they first had to go through the ports and poorer districts before they could get there.

"Just how much area does this city inhabit anyway?" asked Aqua as they approached the bridge leading to the docks.

"I'm not sure of that myself, to tell you the truth," Dante replied. "All I _do_ know is that it's crawling with demons, and _that_ is where my profession lies."

The two Key Bearers nodded at that while Naruto suddenly stiffened and looked behind him at the top of the bridge's support beams. "Naruto," Aqua started with a worried tone, "are you alright?"

"I'm alright… I think my mind's playing tricks on me though…"

"Why's that, Kid?" asked the Demon Hunter.

"I could've sworn that I felt something with Kurama's power up there," murmured the ex-Jinchuriki.

The trio kept their gazes on the support beam for a few more seconds before Naruto shook his head and resumed walking towards the docks with Aqua and Dante in tow. In the shadows of the support beam, a hooded figure walked out and gazed at the retreating trio before they disappeared through a Darkness Doorway.

As soon as the three rebels against the False Savior stepped onto the largest part of the docks, the paths leading to the city and back to the castle were blocked by a red barrier. From rings of Demon Magic, four suits of Bianco Angelos as well as a different styled suit of armor.

This suit's armor coloring was gold in comparison to the Angelos' silvery-blue. Its wings were far more angelic and it carried a beautifully crafted sword instead of the joust-like spears the Angelos carried. This was known as an Alto Angelo, a higher class suit of armor that acted as a field commander for the Angelos.

The three separated and divided the enemies between one another. Dante and Aqua took on two Angelos each while the Alto set its sights on the Uzumaki Key Bearer. Dante toyed with his opponents, absorbing the strength from their attacks with his defensive Royal Guard fighting style. Each strike the Angelos made was halted by the defensive style before Dante smirked and drop-kicked them both away from him. He then crouched low and surrounded himself with shadowy energy that soon covered him as a form of armor; the **Dreadnaught**.

With his near-invulnerable armor on, he quickly moved into the Angelos' guard and grabbed both of their heads before he slammed them against one another. As the two possessed suits of armor recoiled from the blow, Dante slammed his fists into both of them and used his **Release** technique on them; sending forth all of the pent up energy and destroying them in an instant.

Aqua used her agility to cartwheel and roll out of the way of the synchronized strikes against her. She was suddenly backed into the barrier and raised her KeyBlade to hold off the two jousts from running her through. With a yell, she shifted her weight and allowed the two jousts to slam into the barrier and get some distance.

Wide open for an attack, the Angelos were unable to block the twin **Firaga** spells that the bluenette fired at them. The Angelos were scorched from the attacks and lost their footing, allowing the KeyBlade Master to enshroud her blade in ice and slam down on them with a cry of "**Diamond Dust**!" The Angelos turned to ice-encrusted suits of armor before they burst apart into a powdery mist.

Naruto was using his KeyBlade to parry the highly coordinated sword strikes that the Alto used against him, but the suit seemed to have a higher level of natural strength since each blow pushed the blonde back further and further. Naruto then rolled under a beheading strike and kicked upward, striking the sword arm and making the armor loose grip of its weapon. The Alto's sword flew through the air and was caught by a clone that the Uzumaki formed while he was in mid-roll.

Using the armor's own weapon, the clone made a downward swing with the weapon, but the Alto had its wings form into a shield, blocking the attack entirely. While the Alto was guarding against his clone's attack, the real Naruto enshrouded Kurama in a swirl of bright white wind and swung down at it. "**Light Hurricane**!" cried the blonde as the wind tore across the ground and blew through the Alto as well as the clone. The Alto was blasted into the cliff side near the docks before it slowly faded into specks of light and disappeared.

Dante smirked as they regrouped and the two Key Bearers caught their breath. "Man, nothing like a good workout to get you ready for what's up next. Am I right?"

The blonde and bluenette glared at him, which only made his smirk grow into a grin. "Geez… That was annoying," Naruto grumbled as they resumed their trek. "How much further?"

"Not too far," replied the red-clothed man as the trio walked through the poor district. "We just need to pass this and then we'll be walking through the city streets."

Naruto nodded while Aqua sighed in relief. All of the constant fighting and travelling was starting to really get to her. While the two next to her had ridiculous stamina and reserves of energy, she was an above average fighter who specialized at magic; not physical ability. _'Guess I need to work on my physique a bit more,'_ she thought with a sigh.

"You alright, Aqua-chan?" asked a concerned blonde, making her smile at him.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired is all."

"Do you want to stop and rest a little?"

She shook her head no and increased her pace, stepping passed him. "We need to hurry up and destroy the last Hell Gate. We don't have time to rest."

Naruto sighed at that fact before he nodded and hurried after her. Meanwhile, Dante had a hidden grin at the closeness between the two. _'I'd be willing to bet both mine _and_ my brother's swords that they'll end up together,'_ he mused to himself before he followed them.

As they stepped onto the destroyed main streets of Fortuna City, they couldn't help but look up and see both the massive Hell Gate that towered over the city as well as the floating False Savior. "Dear Kami-sama… It looks a _lot_ bigger this close," Naruto said with a small feeling of anxiety.

**"Getting cold feet, Kit?"**

"Nah… I'm just wondering how we're gonna take down something that big. We aren't exactly 'super-sized', y'know…"

"We'll figure something out," Aqua reassured.

"Yea, don't sweat it Kid. I got a plan. But first, we need to get my brother's sword," Dante informed as he took a couple of steps towards the church of the city.

He stopped though when barriers blocked the trio in and they found themselves surrounded by Scarecrows. With them were demons that looked like Scarecrows, except they were much bigger and had large, bladed limbs. Naruto simply classified these as Mega Scarecrows.

Aqua sighed along with Naruto and muttered, "Things can never be simple, can they?"

The answer she received was Naruto shaking his head negatively and Dante rushing in to take out the demons. "Sorry Aqua-chan… This is our life," stated the blonde in a sheepish tone in hopes of lighting the mood. She gave a small smile at this before she led their charge against the demons.

Dante used his Trickster style to move through the demons' guard and get behind them before he switched to his Gunslinger style and rained down a storm of bullets on them with Ebony and Ivory. As he distracted them with his bullet storm, Aqua enshrouded herself in bright yellow-green energy, switching to her Ghost Drive command style. Using the styles teleporting abilities, she flew through the demons and struck their blind spots while leaving a trail of yellow-green flashes. Naruto was amazed at her speed and how similar it was to his father's legacy and was nearly sliced into by one of the Mega Scarecrow for being so distracted.

**"Damn it! Do I have to do **_**everything**_**?!"** yelled the foxy KeyBlade before Naruto saw it transform before his eyes into a pair of serrated daggers that had the blades come out of fox mouths. The blades were glowing with yellowish energy that flickered around them like a flame. **"Kick their asses already!"**

Naruto nodded before he used chakra to increase his speed and rocket through the various demons. The blades tore through their flesh with ease and allowed him to maintain his speed without the loss of momentum. He stopped in the center of a large group before he began to spin on his back in a break-dancing like manner. Strings of yellowish energy connected to the handles of the knives while he let them stretch and cut into the circle of demons around him. "**Fox Fang Tornado**!" he cried as the demons were quickly cut to ribbons by the high velocity attack. He then pushed off with his hand and did a back-flip before he landed next to Aqua with Kurama back in his KeyBlade form.

She looked to the now empty streets in shock before turning to her friend. "What was that?"

He looked just as surprised since he had no idea he could pull off a move like that. "I have no clue… Kurama just transformed into these two knives and then these visions of various combinations flooded my mind. Next thing I know, I'm pulling off that spin move I just did."

"That's how Devil Arms work, Kid," Dante said as he stepped up to them. "As soon as you receive them, you instinctively learn how to wield them and use them effectively in battle. It's strange though… I never thought Devil Arms could be formed from other Worlds…"

**"It looks like we've made some progress though, Kit. I have an idea of my abilities, so let me explain."** Naruto nodded as the Kyuubi continued, **"Kitsune were known as tricksters and masters of deception. However we are also known for our ferocity and out clever minds. My ability, as a Devil Arm, is to take the form of nine various weapons. So far, I have two forms: my KeyBlade form and my Twin Knife form. The other seven will come with time, but since my first form was my KeyBlade form, it will naturally be my base – and strongest – form."**

The three looked surprised at that, though Dante was just surprised at the usefulness. Naruto and Aqua were surprised at the fact that Kurama wasn't just a KeyBlade. "Kick Ass!" Naruto exclaimed with a foxy grin while Aqua gave a soft giggle at her friend's enthusiasm.

"Alright… Now that the streets are clear, we better get moving," Dante said as he jerked his thumb towards the church. The others nodded before they all rushed towards the building meant to worship a False Savior.

Once inside, they saw that it was lacking light save for a single one that acted as a spotlight on a man dressed in a scientist styled wardrobe. He had dark skin and eyes, a monocle, and had his hair completely covering the right side of his face. He slowly stood up while Dante motioned for the other two to take a seat on one of the benches.

"It was my…assumption that those demons would prove _far_ inferior in the face of your tactics," began the man dramatically, as if he were on stage.

Dante smirked as a spotlight hit him, and he played along. "You summon and kill! Summon and kill… I fail to see the logic here," he declared before he spun to a low stance and slowly began to rise back up. "Is…sanity the price to pay…for _POWER_?!" he cried as a sudden flash of lightning and roar of thunder appeared through the window, surprising the Key Bearers.

"Humans…" stated the other man while clutching a human skull. "They are but stubborn and foolish…" His voice grew softer as he continued, "It takes a journey…to Hell for them to accept…and praise their God." He then turned to face Dante with a smirk. "A fact…" he began before crushing the skull into dust, "that _tickles_ irony's judgment."

He then blew the dust out of his hand, making it act like a transitional fog that revealed Dante lying down on the 'stage'. He gave a small bark of laughter as he said, "And your judgments interest me not." He then stood up dramatically and opened his arms. "For I am here…to reclaim…" he began before holding his hands close to his heart, "what is rightfully mine!"

Suddenly, an insect-like demon with a 'halo' over their head landed in front of the Demon Hunter in a crouch before he spun and faced the 'audience' with a large sword raised skyward. **"Yamato!"** he proclaimed dramatically. **"That…is what…you seek!"** he declared as he moved the tip of his sword throughout the space in front of him. **"And that is why…"** he started to swing the sword for emphasis, **"I wait in your path!"**

Dante then slid to the front of the 'stage' on a bench as confetti – from an unknown source – popped before him. He laughed dramatically and declared, "You will fumble in opposition on my quest!" The Demon Hunter then raised one of his guns to the air with a flare and fired a single bullet, darkening the 'stage' completely. When the lights came back on, he was seen standing on the damaged statue of Sparda behind the insect demon. "Though I encourage!"

(Play "DMC4 OST: Science Will Never Die")

"For the opportunity to battle a being of such _grand_ delusion," began Dante before he pointed to his adversary dramatically, "as _you_…is a sweet fortune!" He then blew a kiss to the 'audience' with two fingers and winked while Naruto and Aqua stood at the ready; though they couldn't stop snickering at the display they had just witnessed.

**"As expected from the spawn of the Dark Knight Sparda… The rumors prove t-t-t-true,"** stated the hybrid demon with a stutter at the end.

"Ah, were you impressed?" taunted the Demon Hunter. "Personally, I think we could have added a little more pizzazz to the whole thing! You know what I mean?"

The hybrid was not amused as he hovered toward the 'center stage' and crossed his arms defiantly. **"You may play the fool, Son of Sparda… But I, Agnus, will not allow you to stop His Holiness from purging this world of all of the demons that infect it."**

Dante smirked and readied Rebellion while Aqua called upon her Blade Charge command style and Naruto enshrouded Kurama's KeyBlade form with white wind. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to squash you like the bug you are."

Agnus didn't sit well with that insult and called upon his summoning ability to bring forth six Basilisks demons while he held two Cutlasses – demons that could form into powerful swords – in his hands. Naruto was the first to act as he released his **Light Hurricane** at the Basilisks, making them scatter to avoid the attack. Aqua, with her now incredibly large blade, swung wide at the Hellhound like demons and took down half of them with a single swipe.

Dante ignored the Basilisks and made his way for Angelo Agnus with Rebellion already in mid-swing. Agnus was able to block with one of his Cutlasses while he tried to cleave the Demon Hunter with the other one. Dante merely released one of his hands, still maintaining the right amount of strength, and pulled out his Coyote-A Shotgun and fired point blank at the locust-looking demon. The force of the shot pushed back Agnus, allowing Dante to summon forth Gilgamesh and go in for some up-close combat.

Naruto meanwhile made ten clones to deal with the remaining Basilisks while he and Aqua prepared to assist Dante in the main fight. The clones quickly overwhelmed the Basilisks and dispelled, making the scientist's single eye widen at the ability the blonde possessed.

**"Such power… I'll have fun discovering what makes you tick, boy!"** cried the ascended demon as he swerved out of Dante's strikes and flew high into the air of the main hall. A dark yellow aura began to surround him before – with an unexpected burst of speed – he was in front of the blonde and snatched his face with a clawed hand. **"Your power shall now be mine!"** he cried as the Uzumaki felt his power being drained by Agnus.

"Naruto!" cried Aqua in panic before she shot a **Firaga** spell at Agnus, hitting him directly in the back. "Let him go!"

**"As you wish…"** stated the ascended demon before he tossed the blonde into a discarded stack of damaged benches like trash. **"I believe I obtained the power I needed to finish you off!"**

The dark yellow aura returned before Agnus suddenly split into two; the both of them laughing insanely. Dante narrowed his eyes at the sudden turn of events and looked to see Aqua quickly trying to heal her friend. He turned back to the two Angelos and sighed. "You _had_ to just copy yourself, didn't you? You couldn't just stay as _one_ ugly demon?"

**"Say what you will! It won't matter now that you will be slain by an angel!"**

One of them was suddenly shot by a **Light** spell in the back before it dispelled, making the original's single eye widen in shock and turn to see a fully recovered Naruto smirking at him. "The thing about **Shadow Clones**… They split your power by however many you make and are able to be easily destroyed by a decently strong attack. I should know since I've used them for most of my life as a ninja!" Agnus couldn't say anything due to the shock at the new information, which allowed Naruto to summon forth twenty clones. All of the clones pulled out a kunai while the real Naruto had Kurama shift to his Twin Knife form. "Let me show you how that jutsu is used in the hands of Konoha's Most Unpredictable Ninja!"

The clones and Naruto all charged at the ascended demon with a synchronized battle cry, making Agnus slowly back away in panic. The clones barraged him with a flurry of punches, kicks, knife slashes, and stabs. By the time the mob attack was done and the clones were all dispelled, the real Naruto was seen with his knives held crisscrossed over Agnus' throat while the scientist had reverted back into his human form.

(Stop Music)

Naruto scoffed at the man before he grabbed him by the scruff of his coat and tossed him onto a nearby bench. The man was still in a state of shock and panic as he exclaimed, "How can there be such a difference b-b-b-between us?!"

"You surrendered your humanity," Dante answered. "It's that simple."

"But you are not human!" raged the scientist. "And he can't possibly be either!" he added while pointing to Naruto.

"You assume that humans are weak," Naruto said condescendingly.

"They may not have us much power as a demon…" Dante continued while Agnus pulled out a notepad from his coat and looked frantically through his notes. "But humans posses something that demons don't…"

"What? What is it that demons l-l-l-lack? Please; for the sake of my research! Please, tell me!" begged Agnus before Dante fired a single round and sent Agnus' notes floating into the air.

"If you want to continue your research in the next life," Dante began as Agnus picked a stray piece of his notes out of the air and looked through the hole that was put through it, coming face-to-face with the barrel of Dante's gun. "Do your homework first," finished the Demon Hunter before he fired another round into the man's head, sending him crashing into a bench due to the force and killing him. Dante then looked out to the empty hall and bowed while saying, "And the rest is silence…"

Naruto sighed in slight annoyance before he slapped him upside the head. "Knock it off already! Don't we need to get your brother's sword?"

Dante merely chuckled at the blonde before he descended to the lower levels of the church via the lift that was hidden in plain sight on 'center stage'. Naruto and Aqua decided to wait for him outside where they saw the Hell Gate gain a dull sheen before it lost its glow entirely.

"Looks like he found it," came a female voice, making the Key Bearers turn to see a blonde woman dressed in a strapless black halter top, tight black pants, and high-heeled shoes.

"Who are you?" asked the Uzumaki while Aqua stayed silent, not liking the smirk the blonde sent Naruto's way.

"The name's Trish. I'm a friend and business partner of Dante's."

Naruto nodded, sensing no lies from the woman in front of him. "I'm Naruto and this is my friend Aqua."

"Just your friend? I could've sworn the two of you were a couple with how close you two are sitting next to each other," teased the woman much to the embarrassment of the two in front of her.

"Well, you sure got here in a hurry," Dante said as he walked up to them.

"City's all clear; just like I promised."

Dante nodded and began walking slightly away from the others with his hand firmly gripping the Yamato. "I know this thing's a major cultural artifact…" he began before he poked the katana out of its sheath slightly, "but it's bad for the community." He then sliced at the Hell Gate multiple times, causing various leaves from nearby trees to fall from their perches. He then slowly sheathed the sword, and with the final click, the Hell Gate finally had its top half slowly slide off the bottom one.

"Not bad," Trish said. "Glad to see your skills with it haven't rusted." The four kept looking to the imposing form of the False Savior before Trish asked, "Need anymore company?"

"Nah, I think you better go with the others. Try to get them as far away from the city as possible," stated Dante before he looked to her with a grin. "We got this."

"Got it," she said with a smirk as she left the trio to their upcoming battle.

"Well, we better get a move on," declared the Demon Hunter while the other two nodded and followed him.

[High above Fortuna City]

The trio stood on a high rooftop as they stared down the False Savior. Dante rested Yamato on his shoulder while Naruto and Aqua stood with their KeyBlades ready.

_"You destroyed the Hell Gates!"_ stated the armored form of Sanctus, otherwise known as 'His Holiness' by the Order of the Sword.

"Yea…they kinda tainted the view," Dante said nonchalantly. "So…you ready to fight now or what?"

_"You traveled this far to fight me?"_ questioned Sanctus curiously. _"You could never touch the power of the Savior!"_

"Sounds like you're overcompensating!" Naruto taunted.

"And besides," continued Dante, "I wouldn't want you to get a creak in your neck from looking down on us."

_"Silence! What would it take for you to alter your position?"_

Dante merely laughed at the armor and asked, "How about death?"

Sanctus didn't respond verbally and just sent forth many Bianco Angelos to attack the three, but they were easily able to move between the rooftops and other floating pieces of debris that surrounded the False Savior. Dante then threw Yamato like a discus and the sheathed blade smacked aside many Angelos and went under Sanctus' legs while Dante swiftly moved to catch up with it. With a big leap, he caught it, threw Rebellion into the side of the floating statue, and stood on the broadsword as if it were a footstall.

"So, you ready to eat your words?" asked the Demon Hunter as Naruto used chakra to stand on the side of the False Savior and Aqua stood on a nearby floating piece of debris.

_"Do as you wish… Your attempts are futile,"_ stated Sanctus before he tried to get a surprise attack on Dante, but he hit nothing but air while the trio stood on a piece of debris behind him.

Dante then fired a bullet at the armor, striking it in the helmet and causing it to fall apart. "Hmm, the true form must be inside…" he mused out loud.

"So what do we do now?" asked Aqua.

"We still have to deal with Ugly here," Naruto added.

"Yea, I know… You might want to get a better form of defense, because I'm sure this guy won't hold his punches," advised Dante while the Key Bearers nodded in agreement and summoned forth their Armor.

(Play "DMC4 OST: Power of Destroyer")

"Here's the plan," Dante said as the statue looked down to them, "we need to split up and break those glowing blue pieces on Ugly. After that, I'll stab Yamato into the chest piece which will allow the Kid to take it down inside."

"What are you talking about?" asked Naruto. "How would I get inside?"

"Not you; the _other_ Kid, Nero," explained Dante, making the two nod. "We need to be careful since this guy is bound to pack more of a punch than all the demons we faced combined. So, let's get to it!"

As Dante left them, Naruto turned to Aqua and whispered, "Be careful… I don't know what I'd do without you, Aqua-chan."

Before Aqua could reply, he left in a burst of speed, but inside her Armor she blushed at his words. "I promise I'll be careful, Naruto… You better do the same," she whispered to herself before she summoned forth her Glider and flew through the skies to attack the False Savior.

Unknown to them all, a figure dressed in an all-black hooded cloak stood on one of the rooftops and watched the scene unfold. "Now, I'll get to see just how much you're made of…Uzumaki Naruto," said the figure in a voice very similar to Naruto's own (1).

Dante used his various firearms to attack the targeted pieces while he used the jump pads that the floating debris had to move from piece to piece. Aqua, staying a fair distance while on her Glider, used her Energy Arrows to rain down attacks on the False Savior. As for Naruto, he stuck to the statue's body with his chakra and used the distraction that Dante and Aqua were giving it to attack the pieces directly.

So far, things were going well before a Bianco Angelo came out of nowhere and knocked him off of the False Savior. Free falling, Naruto summoned forth his Glider and flew to a piece of debris before resummoning Kurama to his KeyBlade form.

_"You are an interesting one, child,"_ voiced Sanctus as his armor floated behind the blonde.

Naruto turned to face him and held Kurama at the ready. "I get that a lot; especially from my enemies," retorted the Uzumaki.

_"I'm sure you do. Tell me; why do you fight beside a demon such as Dante when you could fight for humanity's freedom from under the thumb of demons?"_

"You're an idiot if you think I'll fall for that!" exclaimed the blonde as he pointed an accusing finger at him. "It was _your_ men who summoned the demons, _your_ men who supposedly removed the threat to have the people see you in a positive light, and it is _you_ who is far more of a demon than Dante or Kurama ever will be!"

_"Kurama? I'm afraid I do not know of anyone by that name. Care to fill me in, child?"_

Naruto smirked and replied, "Sure… I'll introduce you to him." He then disappeared in a burst of speed and slammed his KeyBlade against Sanctus' sword. "I believe your sword and Kurama are getting _very_ acquainted right now!"

The two pushed away from one another while Sanctus gazed at the fox themed KeyBlade. _"So…the demon you spoke of is now your weapon. You must have some demonic power if you're able to wield it."_

"Don't talk about Kurama as if he was just a tool!" yelled the armored blonde. "He's my partner, my comrade, and my friend! And if there's one thing I truly hate, it's when someone talks down about my friends!"

_"Is that so? What is that; love? Compassion for a friend or ally? How foolish… And here I thought you'd be able to be persuaded to join my cause."_

"I'd sooner die than join you!"

_"Interesting choice of words,"_ mused the possessed armor.

**"Kit, behind you!"** yelled Kurama, prompting the ex-Jinchuriki to turn around.

However, as soon as he did he was stabbed in his shoulders and pinned to the ground by two Alto Angelos' swords. The pain and force of the impacts caused him to let go of Kurama and the KeyBlade slid out of his reach.

Sanctus landed on the floating debris Naruto was pinned to and picked up the KeyBlade which was unable to escape his grip. Naruto growled at the man as one of the Altos took the helmet off of him. He was then distracted by Aqua's cry of pain and he turned to see that she had been backhanded by the False Savior and sent crashing into a piece of debris. Dante was too focused on taking down the statue and avoiding any damage to help her. The blonde saw red and struggled to get up, but the Altos' grip on their swords was firm.

_"That woman means a lot to you, doesn't she?"_ questioned Sanctus, making Naruto's struggling increase with vigor. _"It's such a shame that you did not consider my offer… She could have lived."_

"If you touch her, I swear to Kami-sama above that I'll _kill_ you!" roared the blonde while far away, Aqua painfully turned to see his predicament.

_"You know,"_ Sanctus began, _"I read that a warrior's weapon was like a piece of themselves that they took into battle and that dying beside their weapon was a high honor."_ He then positioned Kurama's tip to his stomach, unknowingly above where the blonde's seal was. _"Allow me to give you that honor…as you DIE!"_ yelled the armor as it stabbed the Key into the blonde, making his face contort to one full of pain; so much that no sound escaped from him as he tried to scream.

"KID/NARUTO!" yelled Dante and Aqua as they witnessed their friend – and in Aqua's case precious person – get stabbed by his own weapon.

_"There… Now you can die with that pathetic thing you warriors call 'honor',"_ declared Sanctus before he and the Altos flew away from the bleeding blonde. _"Perhaps your friends will provide a better challenge for the Savior."_

Deep within Naruto's subconscious, Naruto saw the empty cage that held Kyuubi slowly crumble as the area around him shook violently.

"No…" he whispered.

The mindscape's walls began to crack while many pieces fell and splashed down onto the water he painfully lied in.

"No…" he said in a stronger voice.

Within the empty cage, a spark lit. As Naruto struggled to his feet, the sparks came more rapidly before they finally formed into a floating orb of white-orange flame. Naruto finally stood to his feet and looked to the orb as the area around him kept falling apart. Without any thought, he reached out to it, even though it was practically miles away from him; but the orb flew towards his outstretched hand. His eyes closed as the orb engulfed his form and surrounded him with its power. As his eyes shot open, they were no longer a vibrant blue, but a powerful orange with a black slit pupil.

"NO!" roared the blonde as he ejected himself from his mind.

Back in the outside world, Dante was distracting the False Savior while Aqua desperately tried to heal Naruto. "Naruto… Please don't die! You can't die!" she begged as she casted **Cure** spells at a constant rate. When she finally realized that she couldn't heal him, she collapsed on top of him and cried into his bloody and armored chest. "I'm so sorry, Naruto…" she whispered as she cried.

Suddenly, the blonde's form was engulfed in a bright light that blinded the bluenette. However Kurama, who lied on the ground unable to move, grinned at what he saw. **"It looks like you finally regained my power, Naruto…"**

Aqua unshielded her eyes as soon as the light died down and gasped in shock at the sight of Naruto. Gone was his Armor as he now stood cloaked in a shroud or white-orange energy that covered his form like a full body cloak. The ends of the cloak looked ripped to vaguely resemble nine tails while his body had multiple seals on it and there were six comma shaped markings around his neck. The last things she noticed were that his whisker markings were far more defined and that his hair was spikier, forming to horn-shaped pieces in front of him.

"N-Naruto?" she whispered, making him turn to her and grin.

"Hey Aqua-chan," he greeted before he opened his arms wide. "I got Kurama's power back!"

She couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm as more tears escaped her. She was then engulfed in a warm embrace, one she enjoyed immensely.

'I'm so sorry I made you worry like that… I promise that it won't happen again," he said reassuringly to her and she nodded in his chest. He then let her go and grinned to her again before he picked up Kurama. "I hope Dante's had his fun," he started as Kurama disappeared in a flash of red and Naruto's forehead gained a marking similar to a fox head. "Because now it's _my_ turn to have a little fun!"

With that, he launched off of the floating debris that he and Aqua stood on before he called upon all of the energy at his disposal and formed an ethereal Kyuubi that stood before the False Savior. The ethereal fox roared at the statue, sending a shockwave that pushed it back a couple of feet.

Dante smirked at the sight and called out, "Way to go, Kid! Let's take down Ugly for good this time!"

_"With pleasure!"_ yelled the conjoined voices of Naruto and Kurama and they swiped at the False Savior, easily breaking the blue crystal on its chest.

Dante then jumped towards the False Savior and plunged Yamato halfway into the crystal, but he couldn't push it any further. From the statue, Sanctus declared, _"Even Yamato and that glowing fox are powerless in opposition to the Savior!"_

The ethereal fox suddenly sucked up its energy and converged in on its forehead before a flickering white-orange figure shot up and began falling towards Yamato's handle. With a roar, Naruto punched the handle's tip with all of his might, sending it flying through the crystal and into the False Savior's core. Naruto then kicked off of the chest and landed next to Dante while his flickering energy converged into his right hand and formed a near exact replica of Yamato; except it had a red handle and black blade. Naruto stared in shock at the new form Kurama took while Dante smirked.

"Well well, it looks like you and that fox of yours are just full of surprises today," he commented.

Naruto chuckled as he held up Kurama's new form and Aqua landed next to them. "I guess we are…"

(Stop Music)

_"No! What have you done?!"_ roared the voice of Sanctus.

Dante smirked at this and called out, "Time to wake up, Kid! You're missing out on all the fun!" When he received no reply, he called out to Nero by his name and they saw the False Savior tense as if something was happening inside. "It's up to you from here, Kid! An opportunity to save the World doesn't happen every day, you know! Savor it!"

Inside of the False Savior, a young man with silver hair and blue eyes clutched the Yamato with his demonic looking hand known as the Devil Bringer. "This I will savor…" he whispered to himself as he stood to his feet. With a swipe of the blade, he strode through the inner body of the statue and declared, "Let's clean up this mess!"

"Do what you gotta do, Kid, because the three of us are gonna send this guy on a one-way trip to Hell!"

Nero smirked as he rushed through the challenges that awaited him inside of the False Savior while the other three resumed their assault on the statue. Nearly half an hour of attacking from the outside later, the trio noticed the False Savior finally tense up again before it sent one final punch at them as they stood together. Their forms all glowed with power – Naruto's a white with orange outline, Aqua's a blue with a white outline, and Dante's a red with a black outline – and swung their weapons against the fist, stopping it in its tracks.

The False Savior finally stopped moving and stayed in a punching pose as Nero jumped out of the chest crystal with an orange-haired woman dressed in white in his arms. On his back was a large demonic looking sword that easily matched his height.

"So, he finally got back the Sparda Sword," Dante muttered to himself while Naruto and Aqua stayed silent. He then chuckled and said out loud, "Took your time."

"What, you looking for an apology?" asked Nero.

"Well, how long am I gonna have to wait for it?" asked the Demon Hunter as Nero set the woman, named Kyrie, to her feet.

Suddenly, the False Savior rose up again, but its face had now taken on the form of Sanctus'.

"Oh, come on! After all that, he's still alive?!" yelled Naruto as he readied Kurama's KeyBlade form.

"He really is a pain," Aqua agreed.

"And he doesn't seem to know how to let it go," Dante added.

Nero blocked their path with the Sparda Sword and declared, "This is where it started, and this is where it'll end; by my hand."

Dante and Naruto smirked while Aqua smiled as the Demon Hunter took the sword out of Nero's hand. "Alright then… Go finish it, Kid."

Nero nodded before he turned back to Kyrie and whispered, "Wait for me…" She nodded with a smile as he stepped up to Savior Sanctus to take him down for good.

"Don't worry," Naruto said to Kyrie, making her look at him. He smiled and finished, "He'll win; no doubt about it. So long as he keeps fighting for the people he cares about, he'll win."

His hand unconsciously grabbed Aqua's, making her blush but smile at his words as well as Kyrie while Dante smirked. "I know he will," the orange haired woman agreed. "I believe in him."

"You know God," Nero began as he raised up his Devil Bringer and looked at it, "I always hated that you made my arm like this." He watched as he kept walking how Savior Sanctus looked to him in rage. "But now with it, I can destroy this thing. Who would've thought?!" he asked as he punched his right hand into his left.

Sanctus was quick to throw the first punch, but Nero easily knocked it aside with his Devil Bringer as well as the following to others. Having grown tired of it, he jumped high into the air, and sent a large spectral hand that grabbed Sanctus by his face.

"This hand was made for sending guys like you back to Hell!" he cried as he slowly crushed the face of the False Savior. "And now…you…DIE!" he roared as he crushed Sanctus' face and destroyed him once and for all.

As the statue finally crashed down and broke into countless pieces, Nero walked out of the rubble unscathed and with Yamato in his right hand.

He stepped up to Dante and said, "I guess I should thank you…"

Dante chuckled and commented, "But that would be out of character. Maybe you should throw an insult my way instead."

"Yea, that sounds better," agreed the ex-Order member. "But still, I owe you."

"Ah, don't sweat it. I had my reasons for helping," waved off the Demon Hunter before he turned to the Key Bearers. "They did as well."

Nero turned to them and smiled gratefully. "Then thanks to you both as well."

Aqua smiled with a nod while Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly with his free hand, still not noticing his other was holding Aqua's. "Aw, it was nothing. We're just happy to help!"

Dante smirked at them before he patted Nero on his shoulder and said, "Take care of yourself," before he began walking away. Naruto and Aqua stood to follow, but they were all stopped by Nero.

"Wait, Dante! You forgot this," he said, motioning to the Yamato.

Dante turned back and looked Nero dead in the eye before he said simply, "Keep it."

"What? I thought this meant a lot to you?"

"Well, that's the only kind of gift worth giving. I want to entrust it to you, so I am." He then walked away again while saying, "What you do from here is your call."

As Naruto and Aqua followed, Nero called back, "Hey Dante, will we meet again?"

Dante's reply was a lazy wave as he and the Key Bearers left Nero and Kyrie alone. Once they reached an open area of the city, Dante turned to the Key Bearers and said, "I guess this is where we split. I gotta say, I had fun fighting with you two. Be sure to take care of yourselves," he said as a car pulled up driven by Trish who slid into the passenger seat. Dante stepped in and was about to drive off before he said, "And for God's sake, just admit that you like each other already!"

The two blushed a bright red while Dante and Trish rode out of the city. Naruto still couldn't help but smile at the car disappearing in the distance. "I'm actually gonna miss him," he said before he finally realized that his hand was entwined with Aqua's.

He was about to let go and apologize before Aqua surprised him by leaning up and kissing his cheek, making him turn bright red. She giggled at this before she summoned forth her damaged Armor and Glider. "C'mon, Naruto… We have more Worlds to visit," she said as she flew out of the World's barrier.

Naruto rubbed his cheek where Aqua kissed him and smiled brightly before he summoned his own damaged Armor and Glider. "New World, here we come!" he whooped as he flew after Aqua.

From the shadows, the same figure from before stepped out and chuckled at the blonde's antics. "Well, at least he isn't incompetent. I just hope that girl he's with takes care of him before we meet. Until next time, Uzumaki Naruto," they said before they left through a Darkness Doorway.

(End)

1~ Whoever guesses correctly the identity of this person will get a cookie (aka: a free spoiler)!

And that, my loveable readers, is chapter four of this story! I hope you all liked it! Please review and ask any questions via PM.

Now, as for Kurama's weapon forms… So far he has three; KeyBlade (main), Twin Knife, and O-Katana. The other six will arrive as the Key Bearers travel through the Worlds!

Next Time: The Key Bearers arrive in a World where scaring is a good thing?! Stay Tuned!

-pain17ification


	5. Chapter 5: Monstrous Adventure

Hello FanFiction! This is pain17ification posting the next chapter of "Heart of a Ninja"!

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own anything except for the story idea

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

**"Kurama Talking/Techniques"**

_**'Kurama Thoughts/Mental Speech'**_

(Translations and A.N. Numbers)

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 5: Monstrous Adventure

As the KeyBlade Bearers touched down on the newest World, the first things they noticed were the…inhabitants.

"What in the world?" Aqua asked as they dismissed their Gliders and Armor.

"This is…new," Naruto commented as they looked down at the various different creatures going about their business in the metropolis styled city. The blonde turned his head and looked at a very large billboard that said 'Welcome to Monstropolis'.

"Well, at least we know the name of this place," Aqua said as she followed his gaze. "But how exactly are we supposed to blend in this place?"

"I can always use my **Transformation Jutsu** to change my appearance, but I don't know how you would disguise yourself, Aqua-chan."

Kurama rolled his eyes before he asked rhetorically, **"Do I have to do everything?"**

Before the two could ask what he meant, the fox themed KeyBlade jerked Naruto's arm towards Aqua's wrist and bit down on the woman's arm. She cringed at the pain, but it wasn't that hard to bear. When the fox backed off, the two saw a glowing mark that looked like the kanji for "Beast" on it.

"What's this for?" asked the bluenette.

**"Focus your energy on it and let it do the rest. Naruto, you take my form."**

"Why your form?" questioned the blonde.

The fox forced Naruto's arm to make the Key smack him on the head as he yelled, **"Because I said so!"**

The Uzumaki grumbled about stubborn foxes as he transformed into a bipedal orange fox with crimson eyes, slit black pupils, and black tipped tails. His ear twitched when he heard a small pop and turned to see a bipedal cat with two tails, flaming bluish black fur, and heterochromia with one eye being yellow and the other being green.

"Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed. "She looks like Matatabi!"

**"Exactly. I figured that you two could blend in if you took the appearances of Bijuu. That mark I put on Aqua helped with the transformation without adding any negative effects."**

Aqua spun around to get a better look at her new form and was impressed with how she looked. "So, this form is named Matatabi?"

"That was her real name. To everyone who didn't know her name, they just called her the Nibi; or Two-Tailed Beast."

Aqua nodded as they made their way down from the random apartment complex they landed on. As the two walked through the streets, they were greeted by many passerby monsters with smiles and waves. Naruto was eager to return them due to still being excited about visiting other Worlds. Aqua returned some of them, but mainly smiled at how enthusiastic her friend was.

She mentally frowned at that last thought. Were they still just "friends", or were they closer? When she thought he had died by Sanctus' hands back in Fortuna, she felt as if her heart had been crushed into millions of tiny pieces. However, when he came back, it felt like she had been revived as well since her heart was overcome with joy at Naruto being alive. Then when he held her hand after the final battle, her heartbeat sped up slightly and she didn't want to let go. However, what really got to her was when she kissed him on the cheek. It was incredibly tempting to just bypass it and kiss him on the lips. But, she resisted that temptation and settled for his cheek, which still made butterflies in her stomach.

_'I wonder… Will we ever get _that_ close to one another?'_ she thought as she pictured the two of them together in a romantic way.

_**'****You never know for sure unless you try,'**_ voiced Kurama through her mind, though she did not know it was him and tensed slightly.

"Aqua, are you alright?" asked a concerned Naruto.

She took a quick look around before she shook her head and gave him a smile. "Yea, I'm alright. I was just thinking over some things."

The transformed blonde nodded as the two resumed their walk. Along the way, they heard talk of a company called Monsters Inc., a place that distributes energy for the city's everyday use. When the two asked for details, they were met with amazed looks.

"How could you not know of it?"

"You use energy every day, right? Haven't you ever wondered where it comes from?"

"You mean you two haven't been asked to become employees? You two look plenty scary."

These were questions and comments that the two were met with when asked, but they were still lucky enough to be pointed in the right direction.

The building looked like a very large factory with the company logo on the front; a blue "M" with an eye in the center. When they entered the front lobby, they saw various monsters going about their daily business and staying diligent to their work.

"Top of the morning, fellas!" exclaimed a male voice which made the two turn to the entrance. They saw a short green monster with three clawed digits on each limb, a rounded main body with a very large blue eye, and two small horns on the head. The one next to it was an incredibly large beastly monster that had blue fur riddled with purple spots, powerful limbs with five digit claws, sharp teeth, bluish purple eyes, and two horns on their head.

The larger one also had a small monster in their hands that had a pale purple body, tentacle like arms, rounded feet, and two stalk-like eyes coming up from mop-like hair. Naruto narrowed his eyes when the "mouth" of the monster showed a child's face within its shadows; a _human_ child.

"Aqua, look," he whispered to his partner who looked to where he was pointing. He heard her gasp slightly at the sight.

"A girl… A human girl! But how is she here?"

"Not sure… Maybe she got lost?" mused the Uzumaki before the two of them heard a clearing of the throat. They turned to see a monster that had spider legs, human-like arms and hands, over six fingers on each hand, and five eyes. He wore a business shirt and coat, making them believe he was a high standing member of the company.

"Can I help you both?" asked the monster in a respectful tone.

"Ah, yes," Naruto began. "We were wondering if it would be alright to apply for a job here. We were told many positive things about the company."

"We were also told that we looked perfect for positions as 'Scarers'," added Aqua, easily following along with Naruto's on-the-fly plan.

The monster looked to them analytically as he hummed in thought. The two of them definitely looked 'Scarer' material, especially the one with nine tails. The slit eyes of his were practically oozing scaring material.

"Very well… We'll see if you both have what it takes." He then handed them employment forms and said, "If you'll just fill these out then come see me. Ask for 'Mr. Waternoose', and one of my employees will contact me for you. Also, be sure to take a small tour of our facility and see just what it is we do with your own eyes."

After handing them the forms, he bid them a good day and left with a smile. "Well, now we have a legitimate excuse to be here," Naruto commented with a grin that looked incredibly feral. "Let's take a look around. Maybe we can find the source of Darkness from this World."

"Right, but we need to still be careful. We could easily blow our cover since we have no clue what is 'normal' on this World," Aqua advised as they made their way down a hall that led to the 'Scare Floor'.

On the Scare Floor, the duo noticed doors of various designs being put into slots on the floor and a red light glowing when they were prepared. They then noticed different monsters go in, heard a child scream from inside, saw the yellow tank next to the door fill up its limiter bar, and then watched as the monster that went in came back out while the door left the floor.

"Scare Floor indeed…" Naruto muttered under his breath. "So, the screams are harvested and processed into energy for the cities every day use. That's pretty…unique, right?"

Aqua gave a slightly nervous laugh to hide her uneasiness with the whole situation. To her, the kids seemed to be tortured by monsters scaring them every night. She mentally prayed that they wouldn't be scarred over time by all of this.

_**'****Eyes sharp, Naruto. Those two monsters and that human girl from before are here,'**_ mentally advised Kurama, making him look across the floor and see that the trio the fox mentioned were in front of an open door. Aqua turned to where he was looking and was surprised to see the trio from before. It looked like the green one was trying to convince the girl to go in while the blue one looked unsure and the girl just had her head tilted in confusion.

As they approached the two, they heard the blue one say, "Mike, this isn't Boo's door."

"Boo?" asked Mike in confusion. "What's 'Boo'?"

"That's…what I've decided to call her," replied the taller one after a short pause. "Is that a problem?"

"Sully, you can't go and name it. Once you _name_ it, you start getting _attached_ to it!" he exclaimed, slowly getting the attention of others in the room. "Now, put that thing back where it came from, or so help me-!"

A clearing of the throat was heard, making the two turn and see two monsters that they had never seen before standing in front of them. The one with nine tails said in a low tone so that only they could hear, "You might want to keep it down, guys. You're creating a scene."

The two looked to their new observers, prompting Mike to act fast and say, "Oh, hi! We're rehearsing a…a scene! Yea, scenes from the upcoming musical 'Put that Thing back where It came from, or so help Me'." Many of the observers looked confused while Naruto and Aqua expertly hid their snickering. "It's a work in progress, so we're rehearsing as much as we can, you know."

Murmurs of agreement were heard before everyone went back to their business, making the two sigh while Naruto stretched out one of his tails to stop 'Boo' from wandering off. She giggled as the tail wrapped around her and lifted her up to his vulpine face. The fox-human chuckled as she kept giggling and commented, "Cute kid…"

Sully looked nervous and was about to speak before Aqua held up a hand to quiet him down. "Listen, we know that she's a human girl. We just want to know why she's here."

"Y-You know?" asked Mike with his single eye wide with panic.

Naruto nodded and replied, "Relax, we aren't gonna tell anyone. We're not exactly…from here and relate more to this girl than you two."

Sully raised a furred brow in suspicion and asked, "And by that, you mean…?"

Aqua looked to her partner while he jerked his head to the main hallway, prompting the others to follow him. His tail kept Boo suspended in the air, much to her enjoyment, as he walked to a secluded area. Once he and Aqua decided that the coast was clear, he set Boo down and the two released their illusions, showing the two monsters their true forms.

Once the two saw that they were in fact humans, Mike had a mini freak out moment. "Oh, this is just _perfect_! Not one, but _three_ humans in our world, with two of them being _adults_!"

"Calm down," Naruto said with his hands in a placating motion. "We're not here to hurt anybody."

"We're here to stop the Darkness of this World from spreading," Aqua explained. "You see, your World is only one of _many_ others out there that are at risk of falling into Darkness. It's our job, as Keepers of Light, to get rid of the Darkness and help out the other Worlds."

Mike gave them an unbelieving expression while Sully asked, "So, you travel to other Worlds and help them out? No harm is done to the inhabitants?"

"Not unless they're the ones who are the source of the Darkness we're trying to prevent," Aqua answered with a calming smile as Boo hugged her leg. The bluenette giggled at the young girl's innocent nature and asked, "How did she get here?"

"We don't know," Sully answered with a sigh. "I barely noticed her last night after quitting time after seeing her door being on the Scare Floor still. All I know about the door is that it was white with a couple of pink flowers on it."

Naruto rested his hand on his chin in thought. "Any ideas on how to get the door back here and send her back without anyone noticing?"

"We tried, but Mike got the wrong door."

"Hey! I didn't know what her door even _looked_ like! You can't just expect me to magically get her door without even knowing what the design was!" defended Mike.

Sully sighed and apologized to his friend while Naruto and Aqua tried to figure out a plan. "Any ideas, Aqua-chan?"

She rubbed her forehead in slight frustration as she tried to come up with anything useful. "The best thing we can do is try to find a way to get her door back to the Scare Floor. But, you and I have no idea how to work the machinery in this place."

"Which means that either Mike or Sully need to do it for us," Naruto finished with a nod of understanding.

"Exactly. We'll have to be extremely careful here, Naruto. If Mike's reaction to having humans here is anything to go by, then we could be in danger if our cover is broken."

The blonde nodded as they explained to the two monsters what the main objective was. Sully was all for helping them get Boo back home while Mike agreed if only to get the kid out of their hair.

[Scare Floor (Lunch Time)]

Naruto and Aqua, both in their disguised forms, stepped through the empty Scare Floor in hopes of getting Boo's Card Key from the Manager's Office. Opening the door was simple due to their KeyBlades being able to get through any lock, and they looked through the many files in search of Boo's File.

"Found it!" Naruto exclaimed as he pulled out a file that had an I.D. Card on it. The card had Boo's picture and other information, including her true name. "Mary Gibbs, 6yrs old and from a country called the United States."

"Great work! Now, let's go find Mike and Sully so we can-"

A voice interrupted her, asking, "So you can what; send that 'poor, innocent girl' back home?"

The duo turned around and saw a monster that resembled a lizard, with purple and blue skin, three pink antennae, and eight limbs; four arms and four legs. He looked to them smugly, as if he caught someone in the act of doing wrong; in this case, he did.

"Well, I guess I'll have to report to Waternoose about two of his employees harboring a _human girl_ in this very factory."

Naruto made to hand Aqua Mary's file, but the blue cat refused and stepped forward. "Can't you see that she just wants to go back home? We're trying to help her and not cause a panic."

The monster rolled his eyes and retorted, "It ain't up to the kid. The company is on its way to future productive practices, and she'll be the perfect test subject for our newest idea."

Naruto's eyes narrowed in anger at the idea of it all and he summoned his KeyBlade. "I won't let you hurt her!"

The monster's green eyes changed to an eerie yellow as his shadow flickered on the ground. "What makes you think you can stop me from doing so?" he asked with a dual voice as the entire Scare Floor was surrounded by shadows. When they receded, they were in an open area that had a horizon colored with dark blues, purples, and reds while dozens of doors floated in midair around them. "The girl's heart will do perfectly for the Darkness; as well as your hearts."

The KeyBlade Duo released their disguises as Aqua summoned Stormfall into her hands. To keep Mary's card safe, Naruto sealed it into his arm where he kept Jiraiya's first book and Tsunade's broken necklace.

(Play "Epic Battle Music: Warrior Heart")

Naruto started things off by firing a **Blizzara** spell at Randall, but he easily swerved his body out of the way and camouflaged his form out of sight. Naruto switched his Key into its Dual Knife form and rolled out of the way as a dark fireball crashed where he once stood.

Aqua had lightning sparking around the tip of Stormfall as she saw various doors open and close at random. _'He must be using the doors to move around so quickly,'_ she thought as she unleashed a **Thundara **spell at a door that opened close to her, but it went through it as if it wasn't even there. Frowning, she allowed her KeyBlade to become surrounded in a flash of light before Lucifer appeared on her back and a glowing blue sword was in her hand.

Naruto gave her a sideways glance as he kept his senses open. "Where'd you get that?"

"Dante gave it to me while you and Kurama fought Sanctus," she answered as she unleashed volley after volley of glowing blades at the doors surrounding them. Some were stabbed into while most disappeared into nothing.

Naruto gave a brief nod at her answer while he used chakra to enhance his speed and blurred through an open door. Aqua heard a small scuffle before Naruto and Randall burst out of another door. The monster tumbled for a bit before he righted himself while Naruto skidded to a stop without issue. He then had his Twin Knives turn into the Yamato lookalike – that he decided to name Vergil – and held it completely sheathed in his left hand. With his thumb, he clicked the blade open slightly and Randall cried out in pain as many small cuts appeared at once on his body.

The monster's cries of pain soon became roars of anger as Darkness spread over his form. His body became nothing more than a shadowed form of his old self but with pure yellow eyes and grinning yellow fangs. On his back were dozens of small, but razor sharp spikes and each limb carried a wicked yellow claw.

Naruto grunted in annoyance as Vergil transformed back into its KeyBlade form awhile Aqua had Lucifer revert back into Stormfall. The blonde made his signature handseal and summoned forth fifty clones while Aqua used her **Bubble Blaster** Shotlock to overwhelm the ascended enemy.

Randall moved like lightning, swerving around the many clones and bubbles while lashing out with his many limbs. Naruto cringed slightly as the memories of his dispelled clones came to him he formed a **Rasengan** with his chakra and magic mixed together. The swirling sphere changed from blue to pure white with an orange outline that had a red ring surround it. His eyes burned with determination as Randall came closer and he made his move. Sprinting forward, Naruto threw Kurama like a boomerang while Randall merely ducked under the Key. This was exactly what Naruto wanted as he thrust the swirling sphere of energy right into the monster's face, striking dead on and blasting him back against a door. Naruto wasn't done though as he jumped towards Randall like a bullet and Kurama reappeared in his hand. With a roar, Naruto flew into Randall and stabbed him clean through with his KeyBlade.

The Darkness enhanced monster roared in agony as Light energy surged into his body and eroded the shadows that controlled him. With one final cry, Randall burst into wisps of Darkness that evaporated like vapor while the surrounding area reverted back into the Scare Floor. Naruto and Aqua stood alone as the final specks of Darkness left the area.

(Stop Music)

The blonde sighed as he sealed away his KeyBlade while Aqua did the same. "We better hurry up and find Mike and Sully," the bluenette said. Naruto nodded and the two disguised themselves once again before they rushed through the factory.

They were unaware of the camera that recorded the whole thing for the company CEO.

[Ten Minutes Later (Locker Rooms)]

"So, Randall was corrupted by the Darkness in his heart and tried to kill you both?" asked Sully as he and Mike talked to Naruto while Aqua kept Mary distracted.

The blonde sighed and nodded. "Yea… It's hard removing Darkness when you know that there's still someone in there… It's even harder when they don't come back and just disappear."

"Did you have any other option?" Mike asked, which got a shake of the head from the Uzumaki. "Then, you did all you could. I may not like Randall all that much, but I wouldn't wish for him to die unless there was no other way. Don't beat yourself up over this."

"Thanks Mike… That helps," replied the blonde with a smile. He then stood up and said, "Anyway, we have Mary's Card Key, so we can send her home safely. We better move fast since what Randall said about 'moving into the future' is bothering me."

"Right," Sully said as the group of five made their way to back to the Scare Floor. It surprised them when they saw Waternoose there with a file in his hand. "Mr. Waternoose, is something wrong sir?" asked the furred monster while Naruto and Aqua tensed at the feeling of Darkness coming from the man.

The spider-like monster sighed in disappointment as he showed that the file he was reading was Sully's. "You had such promise, my boy; so many opportunities ahead of you… You could have easily become my successor for the company!" He then narrowed his many eyes on Naruto and Aqua, who didn't have their disguises on. "But now I see you with _humans_, while harboring a _child_ no less! Have you lost your mind, Sullivan?! Have you forgotten how dangerous humans are?"

Sully pushed Mary further behind him as he retorted, "Humans are not our enemy, sir! You constantly worry about the future of this company, but kidnapping children isn't the answer!"

"You think that this is the first child we've taken?" asked the CEO rhetorically, shocking the others. "I have no choice in this matter! Times have changed; scaring isn't enough anymore, and I will kidnap a _thousand_ children before I let this company die!"

The Darkness from the shadows of the room quickly began to converge on his shadow, making it grow larger and cover his real body in a transparent black aura.

(Play "Greatest Battle Music of All Time – Darkness")

"I'll silence anyone who gets in my way…" he muttered as he pointed to the Key Bearers. "Starting with the two holders of Light!"

From his pointed finger came a blast of dark aura, which everyone rolled away from. Naruto summoned forth Kurama while Aqua summoned Stormfall and Sully readied his claws. "Mike, get Boo out of here!" yelled Sully, making the green monster nod and grab a protesting Boo before running out of the room.

"We need to be careful, guys," Aqua advised. "We don't know what Waternoose is capable of with the Darkness."

The two nodded while Waternoose chuckled at them. "Oh, there is so much anyone can do with this power; things beyond their wildest dreams!" he exclaimed as dark tendrils came off of his form and absorbed the Scream Energy in many canisters. The energy was absorbed into his skin and caused the shadows to form a dome around him. The three tensed as the dome cracked and shattered, revealing a building sized spider made purely of shadows with each of its eight limbs having serrated edges while the two heads it had stared down at them with a total of ten glowing yellow eyes.

"Oh shit…" Naruto whispered before he grit his teeth in frustration. He called upon Kurama's power and entered his Basic Bijuu Mode and shot at the Heartless like a bullet. Sully roared as he followed and narrowly avoided the sharp limbs as he made his way underneath the Heartless. Aqua distracted it by using Lucifer to pelt it with many energy swords.

Naruto was nothing more than a bright white-orange flicker as he moved around the legs and appeared on the back of the Heartless. Focusing a tremendous amount of his own chakra into his right fist, he slammed it down right on the back, causing the legs to lose strength from the force and make Waternoose fall to the floor. Sully continues the assault by punching one of the five-eyed faces with all of his might while Aqua shot a **Firaga** spell at the other face.

The three then jumped back when the Heartless tensed and began to get up. The two heads screeched angrily as they shot a dark purple liquid from their mouths. The shots flew through the air like bullets and Naruto was barely able to put himself in front of Aqua with his back turned to the liquid while Sully dove behind an upturned table. Naruto groaned in pain and grit his teeth as the liquid burned into his skin like acid, forcing Kurama to use his power to heal the damaged skin and tissue.

"Y-You okay, Aqua-chan?" asked the blonde in pain, making the bluenette look to him in worry.

"I'm fine… Why did you do that?! You could've pushed us both out of the way!" she cried with tears in the corner of her eyes. "Why do you constantly put yourself in the way?"

He chuckled painfully as the skin stitched itself back together. "I always do whatever I can for my precious people… And right now, you're all I have Aqua-chan…" he answered, making her eyes widen. "Everyone else I knew is gone, except for Kurama. I don't want to be by myself and alone anymore, surrounded by Darkness with no one to help me find Light again."

Her eyes let a few stray tears fall as she slowly stood up and helped him heal while Sully moved out from his makeshift shield. Waternoose was firing more acid all over the Scare Floor as this was happening, fueled only by instinct and negativity.

Aqua moved herself in front of Naruto, making him raise a brow as her back was to him. "You're all I have left too, Naruto," she stated before she turned her head and looked to him with a determined smile. "You're precious to me too."

The blonde grinned at her words and stepped beside her with a hand on her shoulder while Sully stood behind them with his own grin. "Alright then, let's end this!" exclaimed the blonde as he had his KeyBlade turn into Vergil. "Aqua, coat my sword with your power and mix it with mine. Sully," he said, turning to the blue monster, "I'm gonna need you to throw me at Waternoose as hard as you can."

The two nodded and the bluenette merged her magic power with Naruto's chakra while Sully gripped the back of his coat. When Naruto nodded, he lifted him up and spun to gain some momentum before he threw the blonde with all of his might. Naruto flew like a rocket at the distracted Heartless and held Vergil in a reverse grip before he slashed at Waternoose.

"**Dimension Slash**!" cried the blonde as the single cut began doubling until it reached a total of sixteen slashes. Each slice tore into the Heartless and caused it to screech in agony, especially since one of the cuts decapitated one of the heads. Naruto landed on the wall behind Waternoose as his sword turned back into his KeyBlade and he fired one last **Light** spell at the Heartless, making it disintegrate upon impact. The wisps of Darkness faded away as the three stepped up to where Waternoose once was.

(Stop Music)

The blonde sighed with a smile and murmured, "It's over now…"

Aqua hugged him from the side and nodded while Sully looked to the empty Scare Floor sadly. "I'm glad that no more children will have to be kidnapped, but what about the city's power source? Energy is in high demand now."

Naruto looked unsure while Aqua actually smiled. "I think I have the solution."

[Three Hours Later (CEO Office)]

Sully sat at his new desk with Mary seated on top as Mike, Naruto, and Aqua stood in front of him. "I can't thank you two enough for all you've done. You helped reveal a hidden agenda concerning innocent children, helped us find the way to get Boo back home, and even gave us a way t increase production for the company. Who knew that Laugh Energy would be ten times as efficient as Scream Energy?"

Boo giggled slightly, making the lights in the office flicker for a second before they stopped.

"If there is any way we can repay you for all that you've done, don't hesitate to ask."

"Actually," Naruto said as he pointed to the sealed forms of his and Aqua's Armor. "We could use a little help restoring our Armor since they took some heavy damage some time ago."

Sully smiled at them and nodded. He was more than happy to help them out after all they did for their World. The repairs took little time – just a little over a half an hour – and the two Key Bearers stood on the factory's rooftop with Mike, Sully, and Mary standing behind them.

"Thanks again for fixing our Armor. Be sure to keep this company going, Sully," Naruto said with a grin.

The blue monster chuckled and shook their hands in thanks. "It was no trouble, and I promise to do my best. With Mike helping me, I don't think we'll have many problems."

Aqua smiled at that as she bent down to Mary's level and rubbed her head affectionately. "Be sure to be a good girl now, okay Mary?"

The little girl nodded with a wide smile as she hugged the bluenette's legs before she moved on to Naruto's. After she was finished, Mike said, "You two take care now. I'm sure that there are other places that could use people like you."

"We'll do our best," Naruto stated before he and Aqua summoned their Armor and Gliders and flew out of the World's barrier.

It was on to the next World!

(End)

And that, my loveable readers, is chapter five of this story! I hope you all liked it! Please review and ask any questions via PM.

Next Time: The Duo arrive in a World where "super" comes in various ways! Stay Tuned!

-pain17ification


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